Matt Brown, one of the children of Ami and Billy Brown on Alaskan Bush People, has gone through quite a bit over the past couple of years. While he is still filming the show with his family, it’s clear now that Brown was struggling with some personal demons.
Back in 2016, Brown revealed that he had been struggling with alcohol, and he found himself losing control of his drinking. He later opened up about his rehab stay, telling People magazine that he learned a lot about himself, his strengths, and his weaknesses in his 35-day rehab stay.
“I could see myself spiraling. I was more withdrawn. I was slower. Things didn’t excite me the way they used to,” Matt Brown revealed of his decision to go to rehab back in 2016 for alcohol abuse, adding, “I started drinking lightly and then it got to be more and more. That’s when I saw the problem around the corner, and I didn’t want to be one of those guys.”
Then, in late September 2018, Matt Brown revealed that he was heading back to rehab after noticing that he was going back down the dark path. He released a statement, revealing that he continued to struggle with alcohol.
“I struggle with substance abuse, and after a year of ups and downs, I decided to return to treatment. I’m really grateful for everyone’s support and hope to have my life back on track soon,” Matt revealed in a statement to People magazine about his return to rehab to deal with his drinking problem.
Brown told People magazine that he was scared of speaking to his parents about his drinking problem, but Ami and Billy revealed that they were proud of his decision to return to rehab and that they would rather have him alive and well.
“It’s hard not having one of my babies here with us. He was so strong for me, and I want to be strong for him,” his mom, Ami, revealed of his decision to go back to rehab, with his dad, Billy, adding, “We miss him terribly, but we’d rather lose him from home for a little while than lose him forever. We just want him to do what he needs to do to get better.”
But alcohol isn’t the only scary thing Matt has gone through over the past couple of years. Last summer when the show was airing on Discovery, fans learned that Brown had been involved in a scary incident. When Matt was filming Alaskan Bush People, he was also involved in an explosion, and he admitted that he had been careless.
During the episode, he was airlifted to a hospital in Juneau and was placed in intensive care. There were speculations of a possible skull fracture, but he later revealed that the doctors used nine staples to close the wound on his scalp. As it turns out, he was trying to create something to scare away the local bears from their property, using a bit too much gunpowder. A clip is featured below, but it is graphic.
“The bears were really bad. I just got overly paranoid in the situation and took it a little too far,” Matt tells his brother on the show, adding what he remembers about the scary incident.
“I remember bits and flashes like right afterward grabbing a towel and the tape. I remember taping it to my face as blood ran down my face,” says Matt, according to People, adding, “Bits and pieces of the paramedics. It was more like a nightmare. Essentially what happened is I got careless. I was alone on my island and there were bears around. I take things 90 miles an hour and I don’t really think about it before just jumping there. And I took it upon myself … I didn’t realize I could hurt myself and in turn hurt everyone else.”
Despite everything he has gone through over the past couple of years, Matt’s life does have some humor in it as well. The family has relocated to Washington state from Alaska, and that means a change in climate. He recently decided to build a crazy air-conditioned suit to keep cool during the hot Washington summer. Needless to say, his decision resulted in some humor to lighten the mood a bit.
Alaskan Bush People has wrapped for the season on Discovery. No word on when or whether the show will return.