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Tas Pappas Childhood

Born in 1975 in Melbourne, Tas Pappas and his brother Ben were the only children of a hard-working but dysfunctional Australian family. What led the two brothers to want to get out of home and stay away from where they lived.

Tas became fascinated with skateboarding at the age of 12 after watching American professional skateboarders tour Prahran skatepark. Five years later, at the age of 17, he dropped out of high school, relocated to the United States, and lived with other skateboarders in Tampa, Florida.

Career and Problems

Tas Pappas competed against Tony Hawk in the 1996 World Championships skateboard contest and won with a broken rib, which led to his number one ranking in the world of skateboarding.  

The two brothers were not very welcome in the American skateboard industry due to their savage and abusive attitudes. Soon, in 1999, Tas’s brother Ben was busted by law enforcement for attempting to smuggle Cocaine to Australia. He received a prison sentence, and authorities confiscated his passport for three years, which prevented him from continuing his skateboarding career in the United States.

Tas Pappas Depression and the death of his brother

In 2005, Tas married Colleen, and they lived in San Diego with their Two children. Due to financial problems, the relationship starts to get difficult. And Tas begins abusing drugs to mask the pain from injuries sustained during competitions that he desperately entered in an effort to make money.

Fast forward: Tas received a diagnosis of depression, which led him to increase his abuse of alcohol and cocaine. All of this drug use resulted in Tas experiencing paranoia, culminating in him assaulting his wife Colleen. As a consequence, he was sentenced to two months in prison.

After getting out of prison, authorities found him involved in a drug-related car crash during his corresponding parole period, which led to his deportation. And while in detention, Tas received a Heartbreaking telephone call from his father, informing him about the death of his brother, Ben Pappas.

Drug Smuggling

After arriving back in Australia in 2007, Tas Pappas started binge drinking heavily, and the following year, his father passed away from a heart attack. Also in 2008, Tas took a flight to South America in an effort to buy cocaine to smuggle into Australia in order to settle a drug debt.

Authorities quickly busted Tas at Sydney Airport after noticing traces of cocaine on his clothing. When he attempted to smuggle the drug in skateboard decks, he was also under the influence of benzodiazepines, alcohol, and amphetamines. As a result, they imprisoned him for three years.

Finding God and returning to a skateboard 

After his release, Tas Pappas found Christianity to be a key component in his recovery from drug use. In addition, he resumed skateboarding and worked on his marriage to Helen Norman, with whom he has a son.