IT’S GOOD TO TOK
EXCLUSIVE Social media star’s amazing turnaround inspires followers
A TIKTOK social media star who turned his life around after battling a cocaine addiction and severe weight issues has vowed to help others with his story.
Mark Hamilton was dangerously overweight as a youngster and tipped the scales at 22st when he was just 15.
After being bullied at school, he effectively “gave up” on education in third year before undergoing an incredible weightloss transformation one summer.
But Mark, from Airdrie, admits that he then fell in with a “bad crowd” and began dabbling with drugs and alcohol.
He told how he would “wake up in a police cell” every weekend after getting into fights because of his “toxic behaviour”.
But the 22-year-old turned his life around and has now been sober for two years and has also set up a successful clothing company.
Mark said: “Growing up, I had a really, really hard time. At my biggest, when I was about 15 or 16, I weighed about 22st.
“Over the summer holidays I managed to lose about five stone. When I walked back into school, people saw this almost new person.
“Once I’d lost all the weight, I started to fit in and began to get invited to parties. Then I started to fall in with the wrong crowd.
“I didn’t know how to act so I ended up becoming a really toxic, horrible person who was drinking all the time. I would have massive blowouts and started dabbling with drug use.
“I was getting in trouble with the police, I was fighting.”
After being inspired by a family friend who managed to get sober, Mark decided to seek professional help from support groups including Cocaine Anonymous.
He set up his fashion line, Allur Clothing, with a friend and it has now become a sell-out success.
After being made redundant from his job with Virgin Holidays last April due to the pandemic, Mark decided to set up a TikTok account for “something to do during lockdown”.
Now boasting more than 520,000 followers, Mark regularly uses the account to speak about his personal journey through weight loss, drug addiction and mental health struggles.
I’m just a boy from Airdrie. So I’m grateful for where I am today MARK HAMILTON ON HOW HIS LIFE HAS CHANGED
He said: “So many people I grew up with have either committed suicide or are going through a really bad phase.
“I think in Scotland we have this almost hard man attitude where you see yourself as weak if you express your feelings.
“I want to help other people make changes – whether it’s just one person or 100 people.
“I’m just a boy from Airdrie. So I’m grateful for where I am today because it could have been very different.”