He nearly lost everything because of his drug addiction, but his friends helped to pull him back from 'the brink'.
The other team 'brought them to the brink of' defeat. [=came very close to defeating them]
an animal that has been 'brought/pulled back from the brink of' extinction
(..) Sherman, are you okay? Sherman? He's gone. Where are we, anyway? Oh, no. We're on the brink of one of history's most ferocious conflicts... Delivery. How are we doing, heroes of Greece? Feeling good? (..)2014 Mr. Peabody & Sherman