“There’s a better life than drinking” – P’s Recovery Story
P is a RISE Recovery service user, taking part in Residential Rehabilitation. He was referred to YMCA Together’s drug and alcohol services to recover from alcohol dependence.
This is his story.
“I thought I had it under control. But I was nailing vodkas and it wasn’t touching the sides. I had a seizure. At that point, I just thought, ‘That’s it.'”
It was Christmas 2024 when P collapsed. His admission into The Royal Liverpool Hospital marked a turning point in a relationship with alcohol that’s lasted for two-thirds of his life.
Growing up in Garston under Thatcher’s Government wasn’t easy.
“We all wore hand-me-downs. We were really poor. It was bleak.”
Escape came in 1993 when P visited his Dad, divorced from his Mum, in Southampton.
“That’s when I discovered alcohol…I was 15.
Three years later, he and his older brother got caught up in Liverpool’s rave scene, spending weekends in ecstasy and alcohol-fuelled nightclubs. “Everything was crazy,” he said, “But we were just doing what people at that time were doing.”
Then, in December 2001, his brother died suddenly from Marfan Syndrome. His brother’s death hit P hard.
“I just carried on progressing in alcohol,” he said. “Everything revolved around alcohol.”
He describes finding ways to get booze when he had no money, drinking bottles straight from the supermarket shelves or sneaking it out under his coat. Manipulating the people around him. Scamming and stealing to get what he needed. After being arrested following a drunken row with his Mum, P escaped when the policeman failed to handcuff him.
“I ran away from him and hid under a caravan. The next day, they come and arrest me.”
He was sentenced to four months, his first time in prison. But the cycle continued. Soon, he was sentenced again, this time to six months for assaulting a neighbour while drunk. That was in 2019. By 2020, P was ‘keeping lookout’ for a friend selling drugs in Brighton when, drunk, he fell from a bike and broke his shoulder.
“I was going to the depths of despair.”
His worsening experience with alcohol led P to seek help from various hostels and services around the city, including stints at YMCA Together’s RISE. But he struggled to stay in recovery, finding it hard to be honest about his condition.
“You’re drinking, you’re coming back, not admitting it, and lying again.”
It wasn’t until after his seizure that the penny finally dropped. Even then, while in hospital, he was sneaking off the ward—drip under his coat—to buy quarter bottles of vodka from a nearby off-license.
“I had nowhere to go, so I was living at the A&E.”
Then, by chance, Peter bumped into a friend of a friend during one of his frequent booze runs.
“He put me in touch with Ian Glennon at the Brink…that was the turning point.”
P is 76 days sober at the time of our conversation. His time at RISE has challenges, but he says the support is helping him move forward.
“In here, it’s a world away from anything. It can stress people out, but it’s for your own good because you’re learning skills to live out there. The staff are great. Even though sometimes I’ve had resentment for them because you don’t get what you want. You realise after a while they’re only doing it for you.”
Though he regrets parts of his past, P is pleased with the progress he’s making – and optimistic about the future.
“I don’t walk around with shame. I walk around with my head held high now. Because I know this is it. I can’t drink again. I’m really happy where I am today. I’m proud of myself.”
What stands out most is P’s desire to inspire others going through similar struggles.
“If anyone hears this, then get into recovery. Do the work, and what you put in, you’ll get out. There’s a better life than drinking.”
