Dad puts booze behind him to turn life around
“YOU don’t ever think you will be drinking hand wash when you start drinking cans of beer, but that is where alcoholism can take you.”
After decades of heavy drinking, James Carter was declared 40 per cent alive in 2014 after suffering a severe internal bleed from his oesophagus.
The 41-year-old from Salford had been drinking since he was 13 and would regularly have five or six blackouts a day from litres of White Lightning and Glen’s vodka.
The dad-of-six survived the scare and is now four-and-a-half years sober – and a volunteer for an NHS recovery centre.
He narrowly avoided becoming one of the 400 people who die every year in Greater Manchester from alcohol, according to new figures from the NHS. Between 2015 and 2017, 1,189 people lost their lives as a direct result of alcohol misuse – more than one a day.
Manchester’s alcohol death rate is 50 per cent higher than the national average.
James will start working for the NHS next month in their outreach team, his first job in 17 years, and he believes his battle with alcohol can inspire others to overcome their addiction.
He said: “I am giving back to the NHS because they saved my life, I am helping others and reinforcing my recovery at the same time.
“I feel part of something and feel needed here, and I have never had that in my life.
“At my worst in 15 years of drinking it got to the point of me eating out of bins in the streets and sleeping on buses.”
James believes his problems stem from a difficult childhood and he now hopes his children can now be proud of their dad for turning his life around.
He said: “At the time I used to think I was a good dad because I was always there but now in hindsight I’ve realised I was always drunk. They’re so proud they’ve got a real dad now.”
He attended sessions at the Orchard, a recovery centre in Salford for drink and drugs, and spoke alongside Mayor Andy Burnham at the launch of The Big Alcohol Conversation last month, a partnership which hopes to tackle the harm caused by alcohol.
The Mayor and his night-time economy advisor, Sacha Lord, have announced funding for 150 extra Drinkaware staff members to help those who appear vulnerable on a night out.
Go to thebigalcoholconversation. org for more.