Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
Boxer Damien on his fight to kick cannabis
Champ feeling ‘amazing’ 4 months clean
Now Belfast Cruiserweight Damien Sullivan, a former Ulster Elite champion, hopes his story will encourage other people suffering to reach out.
Damien , 27, started smoking cannabis when he was just 14.
He was addicted by the time he was “16 or 17”, a personal battle that he is only coming to terms with now, some 10 years on.
Damien told the Mirror: “I am 127 days clean and feel amazing for it.
“I was well and truly wrecked but when my family found out about my addiction they were all amazing.
“I honestly have the best parents in the world, they are like my best friends and I can talk to them about anything.
Damien recently shared his story on Facebook, revealing the extent of his cannabis addiction and urging anyone else struggling to reach out.
He said: “I have had a lot of people reach out to me, and anyone feeling bad should always try and speak to someone.
“Always remember, no matter how you’re feeling, it’s not going to be that way forever.”
Damien’s own drug abuse as a teenager was triggered by some traumatic moments in his life, including the death of his sister Emma Louise aged just 16. He explained: “I started
Anyone feeling bad should try and speak to someone DAMIEN SULLIVAN BELFAST YESTERDAY
KING OF THE RING Damien is enjoying life again smoking at a young age. I think it was a way of helping me with a lot of things I had going on in my life.
“Towards the end I was having a smoke first thing in the morning with my coffee.
“I never smoked it to be social, I was always smoking to take me away from reality for a period.”
Damien said he decided to take action when the addiction started compromising his mental health.
He added: “I realised how much money I was spending on it and how paranoid and anxious I was getting. I just said, ‘enough is enough’.
“I was closing blinds in the house and was afraid to go for a walk with my children.
“Lockdown made things a l ot worse. I wasn’t able to get out boxing and that would always keep me on the straight and narrow.
“I decided to take action when I realised I had no money to treat my family. I was afraid to go over the door and even anxious in my own home.”
Damien said he was “climbing the walls” during the early days of his recovery and admits his journey is an “ongoing battle”.
He said: “I have two wee girls, Emelia, six, and four-year-old Hailie so it was imperative that I got clean. I honestly get out of bed in the morning for them, they make me so happy.
“In Northern Ireland there are kids taking their own lives, also adults, male and female.
“And although drugs aren’t the sole reason they have contributed a lot to it.
“I’d encourage everyone struggling to try and get sober and see if your mental state improves.”