My name is Russell and this is my story.
I was on the outside looking in , I couldn’t understand how people arrived into homelessness and or addiction , nor did I want to . I was soon to feel the wrath of my ignorance and indifference and learn the hard way , but remember this is my story , everyone’s journey is different.
I worked my fingers to the bone while my back ached to achieve the “dream”, you know the one, grow up get married, kids and a house, with the white picket fence, I had arrived. My reward was the occasional drink for a job well done “you deserve it “ I would tell myself. That occasional treat soon turned into my right and I would drink whenever I wanted oblivious to the destruction it caused. My life had become unmanageable.
I lost it all, I felt alone in a cold dark world, the only warmth coming from the grail of deception given to me by my old friend alcohol, but only briefly I had to keep returning to the cup more frequently and taking longer drinks to feel the warmth it once gave me, never quite satisfying my thirst .
My siblings tried to help me but they had no idea how powerful this beast that was once my friend had become. It didn’t take long for me to push them away. There was only one way out , but I couldn’t even get that right. The doctors discharged me , straight to the off license I went and oblivion soon after, fast forward a bit, eventually I made my way to herring house, I had heard about it from the crisis team, I arrived a shadow of my former self, desperate and defeated.
They took me in, my heart was broken, physically and emotionally, I needed an operation. One day I walked into the office, completely broken tears rolling down my my face , shaking , weak at the knees and asked with desperation for them to “fix me “ that was a tall order, but without a beat they stopped what they were doing and in that moment my recovery journey began. We decided I would move in to the high support unit after my operation. HSU helped me to learn to live life sober. Through structure and routine, counselling and support from my key worker I grow stronger each day.
I have learned to be humble and have compassion and empathy, and most importantly that there is a way out.
