Saw this story today. We are lucky Dr. Silkworth was around at the right time...

The Little Doctor Who Loved Drunks

Copyright © A.A. Grapevine, Inc, May, 1951

      A drunk is lying on a bed in a hospital, and a doctor is sitting beside the bed. The drunk is talking earnestly to the doctor. “...a wave of depression came over me,” the drunk is saying. “I realized that I was powerless - hopeless - that I couldn’t help myself, and that nobody else could help me. I was in black despair. And in the midst of this, I remembered about this God business.. .and I rose up in bed and said, “If there be a God, let him show himself now!”

(A doctor specializing in alcoholism hears all kinds of crazy stories from drunks in all stages of de-fogging. You’d expect him to have his tongue in his cheek at this point.)

      “All of a sudden, there was a light,” the drunk goes on, “a blinding white light that filled the whole room. a tremendous wind seemed to be blowing all around me and right through me. I felt as if I were standing on a high mountain top..."

(You’d think a doctor would become hardened after listening to these drunks rave day after day. It’s a discouraging, thankless field... alcoholism.)

      The drunk continued: “I felt that I stood in the presence of God. I felt an immense joy. And I was sure beyond all doubt that I was free from my obsession with alcohol. The only condition was that I share the secret of this freedom with other alcoholics and help them to recover.”

      The drunk paused and turned to the doctor. “Ever since it happened, I’ve been lying here wondering whether or not I’ve lost my mind. Tell me, doctor - am I insane - or not?”

      The drunk was Bill W.

Fortunately for Bill — fortunately for A.A. — fortunately for the thousands of us who have come after - the doctor was Dr. Silkworth. By great good luck - or by the grace of God (depending upon your viewpoint) - the doctor was Dr. Silkworth....

http://silkworth.net/silkworth/loveddrunks.html