Drugs worker shares addiction story to help others

Alan Dobson has first-hand experience of recovering from addiction

A former heroin addict has revealed how, before managing to get clean, he had been resigned to dying alone on the streets.

Alan Dobson is now a drug and alcohol worker in Bournemouth but, at the height of his own problems, he was homeless and "living a life of crime".

More than two decades after starting his recovery journey, he is married with a son and has rebuilt some of the relationships damaged by his addiction.

He hopes his story will encourage others to seek help.

Now a team leader with the charity We Are With You, Mr Dobson said his story began one Christmas, at the age of just eight, when he drank sherry until blacking out.

"I woke up feeling remarkably ill but with the feeling I might do it again," he said.

"What alcohol did for me in the early days was give me a peace of mind and the ability to fit in."

During his 20s, the death of his mother coincided with him moving on to harder drugs.

We Are With You provides services across England and Scotland, including Bournemouth

He said: "From that point on - until I got sober at the age of 35 - there were multiple incidents that could have been a realisation.

"Towards the end, I was homeless and living on the streets.

"My family had distanced themselves. No friends. Living a life of crime.

"I didn't know there was a way out and I almost resigned myself to the fact that I was going to die that way.

"When I came into recovery, my motives were not necessarily to become drug and alcohol-free but, it doesn't matter what brings you through the door, what matters is that you come through the door."

Mr Dobson added it was important to acknowledge the suffering addiction causes to others.

He said: "I never wanted to hurt my family and friends but that was the reality of my drug and alcohol use - it leaks out to all the people around us.

"Some of those people have been gracious enough to accept my apologies over the years. Some haven't and I need to respect that."

We Are With You offers drug and alcohol support to 100,000 people a year in England and Scotland.

If you've been affected by the issues in this story, help and support is available via the BBC Action Line.