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Season 4, Episode 18

Asa

Age: 28
Location: Southern California
Addiction: Alcohol, Bulimia
What’s memorable: How completely wasted he gets, how much he eats, how important a life in academia is to him.

Official Synopsis: Born into a mixed-race family in a predominantly white town, Asa struggled with low self-esteem and body image growing up. Classmates teased him because of his size, ethnicity, and effeminate manner. Desperate to loss weight, Asa became bulimic. He came out as a gay man at 19 and started using hard drugs and drinking heavily. For the past 10 years, Asa has been working towards his college degree. Being a medical science student, he understands how his eating disorder and alcoholism are affecting him, but he’s been unable to stop. His family now realizes that an intervention is their last chance to help Asa.

Original Air Date:  July 2008
Interventionist:  Ken

Comments
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Comments

  1. snugs

    I really want to know more about Asa, but I can’t find anything!

  2. Nothing

    I saw him today! He’s in California, going to UC Merced. He came into my business earlier. He looked drunk to be honest and was rude to my employees. I recognized him but said nothing.

  3. Nothing

    http://systemsbiology.ucmerced.edu/content/agardner

    Found this upon further research. He’s a researcher working at UC Merced.

    1. Nonya

      This link is now a scam bot!

  4. Lynn

    From reading these comments, I could be wrong but I could have swore he was one of the one’s working on The Cover Up documentary, an documentary about discrimination at the work place for LGBT people. Could have swore, I saw him as one of the interviewees. =/

    imdb.com/title/tt2288438/?ref_=fn_tt_tt_17

  5. blarinna

    Seems like A&E is showing lots of episodes they normally don’t rerun — I have been recording Intervention on my DVR for years and have never see this one since the day it aired. I found Asa on FB but can’t really tell if he’s OK — from what I saw, I’d say not. It does say his mom died from kidney failure last year.

    1. Janelle

      https://www.facebook.com/asa.f.gardner

      I disagree. He looks like he’s doing all right (although there’s not that much info about his life on there). He looks healthy.

      Asa was one episode I didn’t remember, and I was glad A&E re-aired it. When he was binging/purging and drinking, he came across as an attention-seeking drama queen (or king) type who thought everything was all about him, and seriously lacking in empathy and emotional maturity, but during the intervention he let his guard down a bit and finally realised how much his addiction and bulimia were negatively affecting the people he cared about. I think a sober and healthy Asa is probably a pretty decent guy, and I’d love to see a legacy update on him.

      I also wondered about his ethnic background. His mother looked South Asian, but she had a Caribbean accent, so I’m guessing she’s either from Trinidad or Guyana.

  6. Sue Ellen Hegstrom

    I’m having a hard time feeling sympathy for Asa, to be honest. I don’t like saying that, and really, it’s just for no other reason besides him lacking insight. I really felt for his dad…the man was practically in tears trying to explain his true feelings to his son, and Asa wasn’t having it. I get it to a degree, but man…the dude’s making an effort to express himself and his love for his son, and it’s like Asa doesn’t hear him. I know Asa’s in pain too, and I sound like a jerk saying I have a lack of sympathy, but I am being honest. Addiction has no winners until medical care is sought and received.

  7. Andy

    I think Asa is dying. He posted on June 19th saying he needs a liver transplant.

  8. NoOne86

    Asa was on life support this past December. He received a liver transplant and is currently recovering at UCLA.

    Post from his sister’s page: https://m.facebook.com/?_rdr#!/story.php?story_fbid=10213428230535206&id=1683291055&anchor_composer=false

  9. Suzanne

    There’s things about Asa that resonate personally with me and my struggles. I truly hope Asa has found peace and healing to carry him through the rest of his life.

  10. Becky

    My DVR randomly recorded this thinking it was a new episode. It aired on a random local channel too. I’ve watched pretty much every Intervention episode available to me and I have never seen this one until today. I also work in a lab so this one hits close to home. He seems at least alive on Facebook, I hope he is well.

    1. April S

      I set my DVR to record ALL of them, new and reruns, last week. Been a fan for a long time. This is the first time I’ve seen Asa’s episode and I absolutely love him. His weight challenges as a kid/teen mirrored mine. Just eating everything I could after school when my Mom was at work and Grandma took her nap! Asa is such a sweetheart and I just want to give him a hug. You’re awesome, Asa!

  11. Tyler

    I know Asa personally. He was lucky enough to get a new liver transplant, but sadly has relapsed into drinking.

  12. Stephanie

    according to his FB, looks like he is doing well! He is a biology professor at a local community college. Glad he could continue working in academia.

  13. Maggie

    Just took a look at Asa’s Fb page and he doesn’t seem to be doing well. His grammar is terrible and he posts complaining about going to concerts alone and not being able to land a job. I mention the grammar because he prided himself on academics and claims to have been grading papers. It’s sad he hasn’t been able to turn his life around.

    1. Erica

      Lmao…did you hurt yourself reaching? It’s Facebook, not an academic paper, no need for the Grammar Police to show up. You inferred an awful lot from basically nothing.

      1. Dahlia

        You are just a ball of positivity aren’t you