About this episode

Dave Velasquez shares his traumatic childhood experiences and the impact of survival on his life.

Dave Velasquez grew up in chaos long before he ever wore a badge. Raised in Minnesota in a home consumed by addiction, instability, and repeated trauma, his childhood was defined by survival. With an absent father and a mother battling severe substance abuse and suicide attempts, Dave spent his early years moving from place to place, never knowing what “normal” looked like. At just 15 years old, he was abandoned and left behind — until one family connected through the Police Explorer program stepped in and changed the course of his life forever.

People in this episode

Host: Kevin Donaldson

Guest: Dave Velasquez

Topics covered

• survival
• childhood trauma
• addiction
• mental health
• police explorer program

Keywords

• survival
• childhood
• trauma
• addiction
• mental health
• police explorer

Mentioned in this episode

Places: Minnesota

More episodes of The Suffering Podcast

• Episode 292: The Suffering of Personal Development with Erik Malmstrom · July 19, 2026 · 1h 4m
• Episode 291: The Suffering of 20 Years with Richard Veltre · July 12, 2026 · 1h 12m
• Episode 290: The Suffering of Analysis with Dr. Dorothy Novitskie · July 5, 2026 · 1h 12m
• Episode 288: The Suffering of Uber with Samuel Tavares · June 21, 2026 · 1h 7m
• Episode 287: The Suffering of a Purple Heart with Cody Boden · June 14, 2026 · 1h 22m

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