Overcoming opioid addiction: Billionaire businessman tells his gripping story in 'Slaying The Dragon'

Antonio Iozzo shares his story with John Maytham on The Afternoon Drive.

Antonio Iozzo's recently released memoirSlaying The Dragon is described as 'the bravest book you'll read this year'.

It tells the harrowing and ultimately triumphant story of the billionaire's battle against opioid addiction following a near-fatal superbike accident in 2018.

The self-made businessman, whose CEO portfolio includes Alpha Insure, tells John Maytham that risk-taking has always been part of his personality.

"I think it's a big part of my success, but it has also been a cause of a lot of the pain and broken bones that I've endured in the sports that I pursue."

Antonio Iozzo, Author - Slaying The Dragon

During a race at Cape Town's Killarney track, Iozzo came off his superbike, sustaining injuries that included a shattered T7 vertebra, 14 broken ribs, and punctured lungs.

"99% of the time you and your bike never follow the same trajectory, and it just so happened this time I slid into the barrier and the bike slid into my back."

"I spent two weeks in ICU and the doctors really couldn't understand why I wasn't paralysed... I was prescribed Oxycodone (OxyNorm); I was on morphine and on pethidine."

Antonio Iozzo, Author - Slaying The Dragon
 

Iozzo says he was never told by the prescribing doctors how addictive 'Oxy' is.

He was prescribed the drug again after subsequent operations, when his five-year addiction nightmare started.

At this stage of his life, he is able to manage the pain he still endures, Iozzo says.

"Pain is a relative term and it becomes more manageable the more you live with it.... But, no more Oxy."

Antonio Iozzo, Author - Slaying The Dragon

Iozzo says he has now been clean for just over two years.

He describes Slaying The Dragon as essentially a self-help guide for anyone that is addicted to Oxy or any similar drug.

Scroll up to listen to the engrossing interview