Student who used to drink litre of vodka every day tells how rehab changed his life

John Hayward, 30, from Gloucester, began drinking socially when he was a teenager and later started using alcohol as a “coping mechanism” during a period of poor mental health.

After his addiction started dominating his life, he checked himself into Abbeycare, a residential drug and alcohol addiction recovery clinic in Minsterworth, Gloucestershire.

During two stays at the facility in 2022, he underwent a full detox and began to learn more about his condition, meeting others who had been through the same thing.

After leaving Abbeycare, he has continued his recovery by taking part in the clinic’s comprehensive aftercare programme, which helps to reduce the risk of a relapse.

Since regaining control over his life, he has re-entered education and is about to begin his final year of a degree in IT and computing with business.

Figures published by the ONS in April showed that there were 10,048 deaths from alcohol-specific causes registered in the UK in 2022, the highest number on record.

Compared with 2019, before the Covid pandemic, the ONS said there had been ‘statistically significant increases’ in the alcohol-specific death rate in England, Wales and Scotland.

“By the time I got into my mid-20s, things got so bad that I couldn't really function without a drink,” John recalls.

“Every single day, come the evening I'd be shaking, I'd be sweating, the dry heaving would start. And the only thing that stopped it was to take a drink of alcohol.

“It just became like that every single night for a few years. I was still working, caring for my brother, helping my parents run their business, but looking back, I wasn't really with it, because all the time I was just thinking, ‘When can I get my next drink’.

“In the final couple of years of my addiction, I started waking up early in the morning, four o'clock or so, and the dry heaving was so bad I would start drinking vodka, just to get me going.

“I'd function throughout the day but come the evening, it would be straight to the bottle. The drinking got to blackouts where I wouldn't remember the night before.”

Once John’s addiction had escalated to the point where he was drinking more than a litre of vodka every day, he began looking for local services that could help him.

“In desperation I began Googling anywhere that could stop the pain that I was in, and Abbeycare came up,” he says.

“It's just changed my life, I finally realised what alcoholism is, that it’s an illness, and how I can live with that illness, and manage it.

“My addiction wanted me dead. I thought nobody else felt the way I did, I thought it was just me. It turns out that addiction affects thousands, millions of people.

“I've learnt that there is a way that you can live with the illness, just like many other illnesses, as long as you continue with ongoing treatment, keeping it away.”

Eddie Clarke, outreach manager of the Abbeycare Group, said: “John’s story is a timely reminder of the devastation that alcohol addiction can cause and we are delighted that our staff were able to help him turn his life around.

“Abbeycare’s aftercare programme is one of the most important elements of what we offer, as it ensures that our patients have constant support as they navigate their recoveries.

“Unfortunately there will be many other people in situations like the one John faced, where alcohol is controlling their lives and damaging their health. Nobody should suffer in silence and we would urge these people to seek help.

“We are increasingly concerned about the rising number of deaths from alcohol-specific causes in the UK, and would urge ministers to take steps to reverse the trend.”