“My life before Coolmine was all over the place. I was involved in crime from an early age, I was taking drugs and I was in and out of prison. It was just not good. I was in a bad place and basically out of control.
“I started with Coolmine by getting on to a family friend who was in Coolmine and he helped me out. When I first came to Coolmine the welcome was very warm. I met all the key workers and they were all good to me. I could relate with most of them because they came from where I came from so I could trust them. Coolmine was a great place, you can see that, they try to help you if you let them. They are all good people and it’s a very warm and welcoming place to go if you have nowhere else to go for help. It’s a great place to be if you are struggling with problems in life.
“In Coolmine I learned about the impact of addiction, something that I never knew anything about. I learned how to pick up a phone to ring people when I have problems in addiction so that I can take the power out of the thinking. I learned to be a better person, a better father to my daughter. I learned about behaviours, especially my own behaviours because those behaviours used to get me in trouble. I learned how to work on my behaviours and I learned that it was okay to be sad because of the stuff that was going on for you. When I went to Coolmine I was stacked up in my life, I had lost so many people and had never grieved for most of them because I was on drugs most of my life.
“I learnt to not listen to what your head is telling you to do. I learned how to help other people and give back. I learned how to get on with my family members. I learned how to listen to my family and how to be a good father. My bond is so much stronger with my daughter and the rest of my family.
“Recovery has changed my life in a massive way, I have my daughter back in my life who I love more than anything in this world. I have the trust of people back people who I let down in life. I have met new friends in recovery. Basically, it is crazy, I have never felt like this in my life. Sometimes recovery is hard but then I see my family that love me happy every day because I am doing well. It is a good feeling and recovery has done a lot for me
“I don’t take drugs anymore and I don’t commit crimes. I’m not getting in trouble and people trust me now. My family trust me and my new way of thinking. I don’t think like a criminal anymore or an addict I just get on with my life. Thanks to Coolmine I have achieved everything I wanted to achieve. I have a job, I have a family, I have no worries in life at the moment. My achievement was to get my life together for my daughter and family and the biggest achievement of my life was getting off drugs. I achieved everything I wanted and more thanks to Coolmine. I’ve recovered the broken relationships I had with my family, with my daughter and I gained these relationships back and so much more since coming to recovery.
“I want to let people know it is okay to look for recovery. Coolmine helps people who are struggling with the darkest things in life and addiction. Coolmine is really a great place to be.”
