Worker urges others to get help after three years heroin free

A SUPPORT worker who has been heroin free for three years has said he would be in a grave if he hadn’t got help.

The man, 38, now works for Addaction North East Glasgow and is helping people affected by drugs and alcohol everyday.

The worker, who wishes to be known as Lewis, grew up in Fraserburgh in the north of Scotland. His friends all used drugs and thought they were stuck with pre-determined destinies. Lewis knew he had to move away and get the right support before it was too late.

He said: “I began using drugs when I was a teenager. I didn’t have an adverse childhood; in fact my childhood was really good. Me and my friends did drugs through boredom – plus the fact that once we tried it, we enjoyed it.

“However, my drug use increased due to situations that happened in my life which I used drugs to mask. My life gradually went downhill. Heroin made me a shell of a person and I was on permanent autopilot.

“I tried a couple of residential rehabs, but it wasn’t enough. One was only six weeks long and the other was so strict that I don’t think it gave us a true picture of the real world, or an ability to recover and build ourselves and our lives back up.

“I knew my time was running out, so I moved to Glasgow, as there are only two rehabs up north – both of which I’d tried. Glasgow was my last chance and I wanted to give myself the best one possible.”

After support from drug and alcohol charity Phoenix, Lewis proactively looked for voluntary work in and around Glasgow.

He got involved with North East Recovery Communities, Addaction, Venture Scotland, the Homeless World Cup and the Celtic Foundations Project. Lewis’s determination saw him juggling this voluntary work with educational studies. He now has a SVQ in social services and healthcare.