A Paisley mother who nearly died of alcoholism last year has turned her life around and is now volunteering at the same Scottish rehabilitation clinic where she was treated.

Emma Harrison was admitted to hospital three times at the start of 2023 after the 43-year-old’s drinking spiralled out of control.

It left her isolated from her family and she then developed alcohol-related neuropathy which left her barely able to walk while she was also suffering from hypothermia.

In March last year, she managed to turn her life around after being admitted to Abbeycare in Erskine, Renfrewshire. She spent 12 weeks in the residential drug and alcohol addiction recovery clinic and then completed its aftercare programme.

Read More: 

That helps reduce the risk of risk of a relapse and she’s now spending 14 hours a week volunteering at the clinic, while also being on track to gain an SVQ in health and social care in the hope of it leading to full-time employment.

She is one of the first people to take part in Abbeycare’s new peer volunteering programme which gives those in recovery the chance to help others who are experiencing addiction.

Emma was severely underweight when she eventually made her way to Abbeycare and the time spent there helped her solve the reasons behind her addiction and how to spot any triggers.

She said: “I was killing myself with alcohol, drinking myself to death. I was drinking in the house on my own, and my children had been removed from my care.

“I got to the stage where I didn’t know if it was 10 o’ clock in the morning or 10 o’ clock at night. I was admitted to hospital with hypothermia and my family thought I was going to die.

“One day Gordon, the admissions manager at Abbeycare, and the nurse from my local addiction service came to my hospital bed and asked if I wanted to come in.

“When I started rehab I was really, really poorly. I was severely underweight, I’d lost a lot of my hair. But I had a willingness to change and I did everything that they asked me to do.

“I had one-to-one therapy and group therapy, and started learning all about addiction, as well as the triggers to look out for and things from my past that I didn’t know still affected me.”

Emma joined the peer support programme six months after she left the recovery centre and was assigned as a contact for others who were ending their stay.

It led to a position on its volunteering pprogramme and she was given the chance to work in the clinic, learn from staff and complete training courses.

Around half of the staff at Abbeycare are in recovery themselves and the aim is to build up volunteers’ skills so they can get a permanent position.

She’s responsible for doing ‘check in calls’ where staff contact clients who have recently left to ensure they are adapting back to normal life.

Emma has also taken a first aid course, undergone suicide prevention training and has rebuilt her relationship with her children after being more than a year sober.

(Image: Handout)

She continued:  “It’s been a beautiful journey. I learn so much from the staff in here and from the new clients who are coming in.

“Helping others is all part of our recovery, that’s how we stay sober. I think the clients can relate to us, because it’s not that long ago that we were in their position ourselves. It gives them hope straight away, because they see that recovery is possible.

“Abbeycare saved my life. If I hadn’t come in here, I wouldn’t be here today. I would’ve gone out, lifted a drink again, and I wouldn’t have survived it. It’s given me a life to live and I feel like I’ve found my calling.”

Eddie Clarke, outreach manager at the Abbeycare Group, said: “We hope Emma’s story will act as an inspiration to those who find their lives devastated by alcohol addiction, which unfortunately continues to affect too many people in Scotland.

“She has been on a remarkable journey that began in her hospital bed when she was offered the chance to begin her recovery with us, and we are so glad that she said yes.

“She is now a valued member of Abbeycare staff, who uses her own experiences to put people at ease when they first arrive at the clinic and support them when they move on.

“We hope that Emma will be the first in a long line of former patients who go on to achieve great things after taking part in our volunteering programme.”