Man becomes viral hit after revealing drug recovery battle
A RENFREW man who hit “rock-bottom” after being sectioned following a staggering three drug overdoses in two months has inspired thousands to turn their lives around as he celebrates oneyear sober.
Danny O’Sullivan went viral after posting two sideby-side photographs to Facebook taken 12 months apart.
In the first image, the 27-year-old can be seen in Glasgow’s Leverndale Hospital after he was sectioned due to multiple overdoses, in the second a smiling Danny shows off his transformation being one-year drink and drug free.
In the post, which has been shared more than 9600 times, received 3700 comments and 41,000 likes, Danny said: “The picture on the left is me one year ago, dubbed up in Leverndale hospital broke, beaten and pretty much didn’t want to live anymore.
“The picture on the right is me today happy, healthy and loving life.
“Drink and drugs took me to hell disguised as heaven. Thank God I found a way out.”
Since posting the images earlier this month, Danny has been inundated with requests from devastated families of addicts desperate to for their loved one to achieve the same result – much to his surprise.
However, it took a brush with death for Danny to finally turn his life around.
He told the Evening Times: “I was just wanting to let people know about my recovery and show people that there’s a different way of living, recovery is possible – I wasn’t expecting such a response.
“I had been going to meetings for about three years but couldn’t even last 30 days sober.
“Then I got to my lowest point, I had hit rock bottom and been sectioned after overdosing three times in two months and my mental health was shot.
“When I came out I did a community rehab, it was a six-month programme, and I went to meetings. That changed my life.”
Danny first started dabbling with booze and drunks aged just 13, following in the footsteps of his school pals.
However, what started as “all fun and games” at first soon took a sinister turn when, at 16, he developed an almost deadly addiction and has life control.
For a decade, Danny was “unemployable” and his family and friends were left at a loss with how to cope with him.
It wasn’t until his stint in Leverndale he really began to turn his life around and it’s better than ever, although he accepts addiction is a battle he’ll face for the rest of his life.
“It’s still difficult but things are so much better,” he said.
“I’ve got a better life today than I’ve ever had and that’s a result of being sober.
“I went on holiday to Turkey with my dad recently and that was brilliant – it’s the first holiday I’ve been on sober – and I’ve visited London for the first time in my life.”
He added: “Nobody really wanted to know me before, I spiralled out of was a danger to myself and everybody around me so it’s amazing that I’ve got my family around me now.
“The amount of people that are contacting me saying their loved ones are struggling, asking me for advice, it’s amazing because nobody came to for anything before.”
Danny is now hoping to embark on a college course to learn a trade in a bid to finally start his life, putting the devastation of his addiction behind him.
However, his message for those still battling the disease is simple: seek help.
“If you’ve got a problem, got to meetings,” he said, “meetings saved my life and get into some sort of programme.
“I went to Turning Point in Renfrew and I can’t speak highly enough of them.
“There are places you can go to get help.”