Full Ep: Born into Addiction

[00:00:02] Speaker A: Born into addiction. That's the question that we're going to talk about today. Being born into addiction and what it's like. We spoke about this on a promo the other day with Liam and Liam has now joined me so we can discuss that. Good afternoon, Liam. [00:00:20] Speaker B: Good afternoon, Don. Mate, how you going? [00:00:22] Speaker A: Yeah, good, thank you. Good, thank you. Thanks for joining us today. Now, we did a promo, obviously, and you heard it. Yeah, but we'd like to talk more about that and. And I'd like to hear your story so other people can hear it. [00:00:38] Speaker B: Yeah, no, no worries, mate. Yeah, I'm glad that's. Yeah, I'll come on here and yeah, hopefully we can tell others about my previous class and help everyone else out and, yeah, hopefully that they can learn something from it too and, yeah, just help out the community in general. Yeah, for sure. [00:00:56] Speaker A: That's it, mate. That's it. It's all about educating others to prevent recidivism, prevent addiction and try and curve the ways of others. So, Liam, tell. Tell me a little bit about yourself, how you grew up and things like that. [00:01:11] Speaker B: Yeah, no worries. Well, I was growing up to a single mother, multiple siblings. Had two older siblings when I was born, older brother and older sister. Mother on the other side wasn't so didn't really look after us, didn't really take care of us as much as she could have been during due cares and whatnot. But yeah, she chose drugs and other ways around life. So we got pushed away a lot and which caused, like, things to happen. Me to get taken in by my. So my mum's auntie at the time. So my mum's auntie took me in. And. [00:01:55] Speaker A: How old were you at that stage, Liam? [00:01:58] Speaker B: Oh, at that stage would have been about six weeks. Six weeks they started looking in, but about a month and a half in. Two months old, they. [00:02:14] Speaker A: So. So you were two months old when you were taken in by this other family? Yeah, yeah. [00:02:18] Speaker B: So, yeah, sure, Yeah, I went with them and my two older, like, siblings went with my grandma. My grandma couldn't take all of us. She could only take two of us because she was a bit older herself and we sort of got separated from that. So that way we didn't end up in care and whatnot. But yeah, I thought I got separated away from the pack, taken in by my mum's auntie. And yeah, to be honest, that was the best thing that probably could have happened for me at that stage. [00:02:55] Speaker A: Certainly, certainly. [00:02:57] Speaker B: Yeah. Because the way he was being wasn't really the best and yeah, definitely wasn't looking after the kids. [00:03:06] Speaker A: Yep. So. And addiction, which was your birth mother's primary problem, which. Which was going on at the time. [00:03:15] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah, for sure. [00:03:17] Speaker A: Yeah. And that's an unfortunate situation for children to be in, growing up with parents, whether it be single parents or combined parents that he uses. Correct? [00:03:27] Speaker B: Yeah, exactly. Well. Well, when you. When you're young, you don't really know what's going on. You just want to get that love and effect that, you know, you. You deserves. But with the addiction and scrolling into different habits and whatnot, I guess it's harder for them to express how they feel as well. But, yeah, each to their own, you know what I'm saying? [00:03:48] Speaker A: No, no, look, I totally understand, Liam. I'm guessing, you know, well, we all know children, they. They just want love. They just want affection. And did you receive that from the new family that you went to, which. [00:04:02] Speaker B: Oh, yeah, for sure. [00:04:04] Speaker A: Yeah. By the way, he's a. He's very good friends of mine, but. But how did you go there? [00:04:09] Speaker B: Yeah, they took me in and, man, that was the best life I could imagine. It was good. It was all going good. You know, life runs smooth when you're a kid. After that it was good. Good school, good home, good family, get looked after and everything. But, you know, like every family, there's always still going to be tips and taps throughout the family that cause different waves and whatnot. So it was good up until I was about 6 or 7. And that's when my stepparents started fighting and stuff as well and yeah, sort of went downhill from them for them as well, so. [00:04:45] Speaker A: So it became another battle. [00:04:46] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah, we come another battle. Yeah, it's just as much as I love my auntie at the time, or my mum's auntie, which I now call my mum because she's Dr. Parent, so I call her my mum. I love her, I love staying with her, but at the same time, I always wanted to be with my stepdad at all times. I felt safest with what happened to me in the past and everything that happened. I just had that bond closest with him, to be with him the whole time. [00:05:16] Speaker A: Sure, sure. That's totally understandable. Can you tell me what happened after that separation and what your life was like and what you got into? [00:05:27] Speaker B: Yeah, well, it was good. Like, I stayed with dad majority of the time. It was all good. But yeah, he. He was convicted for, so interstate drug dealing. And at the age of 12, I was found in the car with him. We were on our way to do what you Would call a trip. And yeah, we. We got done by a task force and he got pulled over and I was in the car and yeah, just after that, he got done. Commercial quantity. They were trying to get inflammating for, like, having a kid in the car and. Yeah, just. Just being how they are. So, yep, I got. I got taken away from him and that just changed my life ever since that day because I had that security with him. I had. It was everything, you know, like, that's what I grew up with. And then it was just taken away from me within seconds. [00:06:24] Speaker A: Sure, sure. And your dad went to jail subsequently because of that? [00:06:28] Speaker B: Oh, yeah, yeah, definitely. Yeah. He done a fair bit of time in that time. Obviously, he was going backwards and forwards with correctional services, home detentions and whatnot. But he ended up getting back out after he'd done a few years on the inside. And then I thought. I thought that'd be good because when he got done, originally I moved up to the Gold coast because not many people could really look after me. I was in that mind state where I was a rebellious little kid and I didn't want to listen. Just running amok all the time, getting expelled from school, just really rebellious, you know, and not many people could handle me. [00:07:13] Speaker A: Did you feel that life had let you down? Yeah. You know, you grew up with an addictive mother, you then lived with some good people that looked after you, and then subsequently your dad went to jail and then you were left to defend for yourself and then head up to Queensland. [00:07:35] Speaker B: Yeah, well, I had my older brothers living up there at the time and I had my older sister, like, from my adopted side of the family that were living, like, my older brothers lived up there on the Gold coast already and my sister lived down here. And I was either going with my sister and I knew she was. She was. She's always been a tough older sister, you know. Yeah, tough older sisters are. [00:08:00] Speaker A: I know exactly who you're talking about. We are good friends as well. But she is also a lovely person. And, yeah, she probably has rules just like we all do. [00:08:08] Speaker B: Yeah. Yes, we have them. Rules and boundaries. [00:08:11] Speaker A: So that's all about boundaries. [00:08:14] Speaker B: Yeah. I said, because I was rebellious and young at the time, I wasn't thinking. I said, no, I don't want to live with you. And I took off on an adventure with my other brother that lived up on the Gold Coast. So, yeah, yeah, it was good. I liked it. But at the same time, every time I'd get in trouble or something because I didn't really have my dad, I was finding out I was kind of create some sort of love in my heart that I didn't have that whole time. So I was trying to find the wrong people to hang out with, just doing stupid things and they would just ground me for just the littlest things. I think that's what caused me be a bit more. I want to get out, I want to start doing my own thing. And yeah, I just, I went out, I started, you know, taking acid, doing waves, all of that, you know, just things you do when you're young. Stupid. [00:09:10] Speaker A: Yep, yep, I can totally understand that. Yep, Keep going, man. [00:09:14] Speaker B: Yeah, and then it just raised into there, from that to the gang fights and defending the areas and all whatnot. And then, yeah, my dad stunning sentence got out and then I ended up moving back downhill, luckily, because I was getting into, getting trouble up there. Would have seen me end up in jail if I kept going. I had, yeah, go do a couple few courses and whatnot. So, yeah, lucky my dad got out when he did because I sort of cruised from there, come back down to South Australia. I thought that we could rekindle, you know, our father son relationship. [00:09:56] Speaker A: Yep. [00:09:57] Speaker B: But it's just we grow into two different people in that time. [00:10:02] Speaker A: So it wasn't the same love, it wasn't the same affection. He'd been apart for. For a long time. Is that the case? [00:10:10] Speaker B: Yeah, for sure. So just like it, it built up over time. And then as much as I love seeing him and everything, because I'd come down, don't get me wrong, I seen him nearly all the time. I'd come down from the Gold coast, fly down, come and see him and whatnot. But it was different seeing him incarcerated to being out in public with him. [00:10:30] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah. And I know you used to visit him in jail because I used to see you. As you would remember, I'd be sitting in the visitor room on the one or two occasions that I had had a visitor. One was your older brother. That was lovely. And I'd spot you seeing your dad and we'd wave to each other. But, yeah, sorry, mate, continue with that. [00:10:51] Speaker B: Yeah, no, so it's. He got out, he ended up getting released onto home detention, come back home, you know, and we tried to do that, you know, come home, son, father, son relationship. But I think I was a bit, a little bit too rebellious by that stage. I really had a bit too much going on and I really fought by myself for so long. I just didn't know how to have a dad if that Makes sense. I just haven't had someone to tell me. I didn't have someone to tell me and give me that guidance into doing it because he was always too busy trying to focus on his stuff, so. [00:11:28] Speaker A: Yep. So you. You thought you didn't have that. That support. [00:11:32] Speaker B: Yeah, exactly. So I tried to fight on my own and everything, and then it just led to us butting heads and we ended up having an argument one day and he dropped me off at the train station and. Yeah, that was it after that. Pretty much. [00:11:50] Speaker A: What happened the day that dad dropped you off at the train station? [00:11:55] Speaker B: Yeah, well, he dropped me off, gave me a hug, gave me a kiss, and, yeah, pretty much told me, you know, I'll always be here for you. I love you, mate, but you want to go on your own adventure. You want to be a man now, you gotta go do it, so. [00:12:10] Speaker A: And how old were you then? [00:12:13] Speaker B: 12. 13. [00:12:14] Speaker A: 12 or 13? [00:12:16] Speaker B: Yeah. Yeah, 13. Going on 13. Yeah. [00:12:18] Speaker A: Yep. And you didn't want to follow Dad's rules? Dad? [00:12:22] Speaker B: Yeah, no, that's. That's why I ended out and it ended, you know, I was rebellious. I didn't want to listen. Just should have been listening, but I was just, yeah, too far. Stuck in my own world, trying to fight for myself and what I'm doing, you know, I wasn't really thinking about anyone else at that stage. [00:12:41] Speaker A: Yeah, you're just thinking about yourself. And Dad's advice didn't try and help you, you just didn't want to listen. [00:12:49] Speaker B: No, I knew he would have been the most, you know, best person for me to listen to at that stage, but I was just rebellious and, yeah, just simply didn't want to listen. [00:12:59] Speaker A: Just want to do your own thing. Yeah. [00:13:00] Speaker B: Yeah. Just wanted to be my own man and try and do my own things, but I didn't know about what the consequences could lead to. All the stuff that he tried keeping me away from that whole time, I just. I just. Yeah, I just thought I could dive straight into it all deep and it would be all right. But, yeah, I soon learned how that was bad pretty quick, so. But, yeah, he dropped me off there, he gave me a hug and, yeah, sent me on my way. After that, he drove away. And I just remember standing there at the train station and I'm just thinking to myself, where am I going to go now? I've got no one. I just come back down from Queensland and, yeah, Dad's just driven away on me. So I didn't know where I was meant to go and what I was really meant to do. But. [00:13:48] Speaker A: But what, what did you do? What, what did you do then, Liam? [00:13:52] Speaker B: I went and sat on the park bench at the end of the Water Lakes training show on the platform. I went on the last bench and then I sat there and I thought, where can I go? And before that, a couple years before, I kept in contact with my blood older brother and I just remembered seeing him around Greenfields, the area. So I trekked towards Greenfields from Walson Lakes and I happened to found the house just through memory and just looking around the street. So I found the house where he was at and I went there and happily enough, he wasn't there, but he was there within five minutes of me going there and yeah, just. I remember when he got there, he come running off and we were both crying and. Yeah, just reunion after so many years. [00:14:49] Speaker A: Sure, sure. So it was good to have someone else, a family member, a friend. You, you're all, you're all alone. You were, you're sitting at Mawson Lakes interchange. You, you go to your brothers, he's not there. That must have been heart wrenching that, oh, no one's here, what am I going to do? And all of a sudden I didn't even know. [00:15:10] Speaker B: Yeah, well, I didn't know the people that were living with him at the time. I just knew that he lived with a certain group of people and I went there and just to say they're not really the, they weren't really the ones in the area. They can just go knock it on the front door of, you know. So I went there with all my will and I just had to do it and I asked him, is he here? And yeah, he happened to be connected to the half house next door. After a bit of a tense standoff and asking me who I am and whatnot, they ended up going to get him for me. [00:15:44] Speaker A: What happened then, Liam? What happened after you embraced your brother, your brother embraced you? It was a family reunion. What kicked off from there? [00:15:54] Speaker B: Well, yeah, we had our little moment and then we drove. Well, we didn't drive. We ended up being on push bikes. He didn't have a car. We made our way back to mum's house my first month, so. [00:16:08] Speaker A: So we're not talking about the adopted mum or the, we're talking about the mother that gave birth to you. [00:16:15] Speaker B: Yeah, this is my real, real, real deal mum. Yeah, right from the go. Yeah, she ended up, I ended up going back there because I thought that I could rekindle some sort of relationship that I never got, you know, Because I got pushed away from such a young age due to her drug use and everything. I thought that after all these years, maybe she'd want me there. Like maybe I was old enough to defend for my own. You know what I'm saying? [00:16:43] Speaker A: So you just wanted to feel some love at this stage and you felt. Everyone else has kind of let me down. I'm just going to go back. I'm curious. I want to know what this woman's like. I haven't seen her for years. [00:16:55] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:16:56] Speaker A: I just want to receive some love. Is that. Is that how you felt? [00:16:59] Speaker B: Yeah. Yeah. Well, all I can really remember from when I was a kid from her was what sort of made me go back there and push myself to going back there after all these years as well is this. I do remember having the good times as a kid, you know, like when I go there for visits and whatnot, visitation. Because I was taken off of her through, like, legal luxury, through paperwork and everything. So. [00:17:22] Speaker A: Yeah. So you would. When that family took. I'm not going to say his name, but when that family took you. So there was. There was. There was. It was all legal and all that sort of thing. [00:17:33] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah, yeah, that was all legal. That was all done through paperwork. That was. Yeah, all done. So that way we didn't end up going into the system, of course, because. [00:17:42] Speaker A: It would have been probably more traumatic if you went into the system. Do you think, or how. Do you. [00:17:47] Speaker B: Yeah, I think. I think the family knew that as well. And being. Because I was born with a cleft lip. Well, hair lip, cleft palate, too. So, yep, my. My top. My top lips connected to my nose. Like they were connected just way too much when I was born, and that required a lot of care. And I think that they know that they wouldn't have been able to have that care happen. And yeah, they. At the start, my stepdad didn't want to take me in. He did tell me that he wasn't really interested, but within a week of taking me in. Yeah, just both of them just changed my whole life for me. [00:18:25] Speaker A: Yeah. Because it was very traumatic. Look, as I mentioned in the promo for this show that I had met you, I had seen you in that cot, and yeah, I know you had that cleft, but. But you're still a beautiful baby. You know, all babies are beautiful. [00:18:42] Speaker B: Just requires extra care, I guess. And it's something that she obviously wasn't willing to do at that time, you know, So I had a lot of questions to ask her, and I ended up tracking back down there with my brother. And yeah, I sat there for the next couple days just thinking in my head, how can I ask this lady, like, who. Who's my real dad? I didn't know who my real dad is. I still don't know to this day I don't. I still consider my stepdad my real dad now because he's the one that's raised me since I was a few months old. So there's just so many unanswered questions. I was trying to go seek and just kept back and to myself, you know. So I went there, I'd done that. And yeah, she was just doing the drugs. It was on the same thing. So just. Yeah, so I'm fighting a losing battle. [00:19:33] Speaker A: And how did that eventuate? So you, you come back to your birth mom, you try and rekindle something and then you sit there and she's using drugs, I'm assuming, or. And then what happened, mate? [00:19:43] Speaker B: What happened? Drugs. She's got boyfriends in and out the house doing all different types of. Everyone's on all different types of drugs, whatnot. And from the life that comes from living with my dad, man, I've never seen that. I never. My dad was involved in the drug game, but it was heavily and you don't keep that around kids, you know, so. [00:20:03] Speaker A: Ye. [00:20:04] Speaker B: It's not something I'd ever seen before. Full on. And I just. It was a whole different world and I was against it for a while and then like I said to you, I was already smoking weed and doing a couple acid tabs here and there at this age, but it wasn't. It was when the meth and heroin and that sort of stuff was getting used around you on the daily and you see people overdosing and it's. That's where I started to realize this is a whole different, whole different game. I was stuck in that path where I just wanted to live with my mum. I just wanted to feel safe and I didn't really know what to do. I didn't know how to go out of it. I just felt like I was stuck, you know, because my last fight that I had with my dad was us too. And he dropped me off at the Mountain Exchange Station. So I hadn't spoken to him since then and it eventually graduated and I said it, you know, I'm going to stop doing weed and that and I'm just going to get on, get on the heavier stuff. And yeah, I ended up getting on the math and then. [00:21:04] Speaker A: All right, so we. So you come home to Mum for a bit of love. Your birth mum. Sorry, your birth month. For a bit of love. You find her using different types of substances, whacking up or. Or whatever, and then you decide, well, I've only ever smoked weed, this. I'm going to use some heavier drugs. How did that first come about for you, using a heavier drug? And what was it? [00:21:32] Speaker B: Well, my first time on the full heavier drug would have been I was sitting at an old lady's house. Can't say too many names and whatnot, but I was sitting. Yeah, and I was sitting around and the opportunity arose to. For me to, you know, get some of it. And I said it. I'm going to, you know, why not? I'm at that point now. I just had enough because I'm just sick of not getting answers from anyone. I didn't have a job at this stage. I was just running around, just stealing off people, going through cars, stealing push bikes, laptops, just anything I really could, you know, to make money. And it just. I needed something more, you know. So I asked the dealer at the time, am I able to grab one? And she said to me straight away, she looked at me, sort of froze because she was an older lady and I was younger. I don't know what she thought I was going to do, if I was just going to take it or whatnot. But I asked her and I said to her, like, I just want to try it out. I'm sick of everyone complaining about. I'm sick of everyone fighting and it's always around me, so I'm just going to have it. Why not? [00:22:44] Speaker A: So you used a substance and. And what happened then? [00:22:48] Speaker B: Yeah, well, my mum actually was there and she said, yeah, go for it. So they gave me the stuff, I went in the room, done that, and then, yeah, just. I just felt like I was alive at the stage and then just doing. [00:23:07] Speaker A: So your mum was there? Your birth mum. Sorry, your birth mum was there? [00:23:10] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:23:10] Speaker A: And she encouraged. She encouraged you to take that substance. You went into a room, you used it and you got an euphoric feeling. [00:23:18] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah, my whole body. I just. You felt like I needed more. I generally felt like I needed more. And it. The addiction just sort of kicked in from that first, you know, tokens, you'd say, yep, yep. [00:23:32] Speaker A: No, I totally understand. I've been there. I've been there, little brother. And. And what happened then? What happened then? [00:23:38] Speaker B: After that, everyone left the house and I was the only one there, wasn't I, with the old lady. Everyone left because they were all Cracked out doing different activities and whatnot. So I was the only one left. And I went in and I said to the dealer, I said, oh, they. They took it all off me, even though they didn't. I just wanted more. [00:23:58] Speaker A: And so you lied, you lot, you lied to get more. [00:24:01] Speaker B: I lied. I lied to get more. And that's when. That's my first time. And I knew I shouldn't have done that. And she gave me a bit more. And, yeah, from then I just went out hitting up, you know, schools, your local schools, taking their laptops, for example. It's doing silly things that you shouldn't be doing. [00:24:21] Speaker A: Sure, sure. Did you ever serve any time in detention or youth centres or anything like that? [00:24:26] Speaker B: Yeah, I went into convenience for a little bit, but I ended up getting out of there pretty quick because I just wanted to change. As much as I kept going, I was a bit more of a smarter criminal. I had an older lads that would teach me the ropes and sort of keep me under the radar. But there was a couple times here I went in and out and I was always at Elizabeth cells and whatnot. And. [00:24:53] Speaker A: You'Ve served time in police custody? Police cells? [00:24:55] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I spent a fair bit of my time there as a youth because I was always out driving. I got caught driving, you know, cars and stuff because I met a few older boys and they needed a driver and whatnot. So I was the guy that could drive when I was young and I was ballsy. So, yeah, they got me driving around for them and ended up to high speeds and whatnot. And. Yes, so we had task force come through a couple times. Just. Yeah, just running a mayhem and doing silly things. [00:25:30] Speaker A: Sure, sure. Is there any stage throughout any of this that you overdosed on any particular substances? [00:25:39] Speaker B: Yeah, overdose on PHP and method. [00:25:46] Speaker A: You overdosed on ghb? [00:25:47] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah, tell me about that. [00:25:50] Speaker A: Tell me about the overdose on ghb. [00:25:53] Speaker B: Well, me and my brother were sitting at my mom's house. My mum's old boyfriend came in at the time, old schooler. One of the boys you'd consider, one of the older heads in the area, he come in and he said, hey, you boys want to try a cap? And we're like, hang on a minute, what's that? You know? And we're already on the meth by this stage, and Xanax and weed and whatnot, so. But, yeah, we tried out. Why not? Thought it was all right. I had some salt. We thought it was cool, we thought we were all right. And then about a week later was New Year's and he come around and he gave us probably, I'd say about 100 mils. [00:26:34] Speaker A: That, that's 100 mils. 100 mils is a lot. And yeah, especially you know, if, if it was chem based. [00:26:41] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:26:41] Speaker A: You know, salt based, you know, a few meals. [00:26:43] Speaker B: Yep. [00:26:44] Speaker A: Yeah, you'd still wake up after. But if it was chem based, let's be honest. [00:26:47] Speaker B: Oh yeah, no full chem, basically. It was, yeah, base, it was gluggy, it was, yeah. Really not, not the right thing. So we thought. [00:27:00] Speaker A: When, when you, you know, obviously the first time was salt based, so if anything happened, you would have just passed out. But tell us what happened when you overdosed on chem based. [00:27:11] Speaker B: Well, I got it. We went to the New Year's, we went to go have a good time, me and my brother, we took about, I don't know, we, we split the bottle in half, like the 100 meals. We then split that into a few different bottles and whatnot. So yeah, we had about 20 meals on us when we went out to go party, you know, 10 each and we're gonna have a good night. [00:27:35] Speaker A: Yep. [00:27:36] Speaker B: And yeah, we mixed it with alcohol, Smirnoff, Jack Daniels and stuff with it. We didn't get told, you know, because the older lads didn't tell us to take how many meals, what to do if anything happens. We didn't get warned any of that. We're just throwing into the defense at this point. So. [00:27:56] Speaker A: So you've been given, you've been given 100 mils of GHP chem based, which can kill. No one gave you a warning, you young lads, and you just took off, you split it and that's where they left you. [00:28:10] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah. Well, we've ended up going hubs in about 10 mils each when we've got like separated it all down. We broke it all down, We've got it bottled up, took that in with us and then I took that, I was all right. [00:28:27] Speaker A: You took 10 mil? [00:28:29] Speaker B: Yeah, about 10, yeah. Give or take. Because we went harvest roughly, I estimate on the model. [00:28:34] Speaker A: Sure. [00:28:35] Speaker B: So yeah, I had that. And my brother, he's 6 foot 4 and he's a bit bigger build as well, so he handled a bit better than what I did. And because I'm so little and only so short as well, it didn't react to my body any good. So we thought we were right. We ended up drinking again once we squirted the juice down our throats, ended up having a few more drinks, having a few More drinks. And then, yeah, I just remember doing the silly salmon and I woke up in the icu, so. [00:29:09] Speaker A: And you woke up in icu? [00:29:11] Speaker B: Yeah, in the Royal Hospital. [00:29:13] Speaker A: Did they tell you at Royal Adelaide Hospital what had happened to you and how you woke up? [00:29:19] Speaker B: Oh, I woke up frantically because that's one of the like causes that happen if you wake up from GHB overdose. You generally have. You don't know what's going on, so your mind turns off. So I woke up in a. In a rage and I didn't really know what was happening. And once they sat down and explained to me that I overdosed on ghp and if it wasn't for one of our mutual friends there that night, my tongue actually went down my throat twice. So. [00:29:47] Speaker A: Yep, yep. So you swallowed your tongue, you. Your bodily organs, such as your lungs, stop functioning, you couldn't breathe, and obviously paramedics arrived, you probably would have been put on life support. Correct? [00:30:01] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah, I was put on life support, yeah. [00:30:04] Speaker A: And then they would have rushed you to hospital breathing for you, put on life support in the hospital system and then you woke up. Correct. [00:30:13] Speaker B: Then something else happened throughout that time, like throughout the middle of night. Something else happened in the hospital as well, because my nose and my breathing and whatnot. There was something to do with my heart as well. [00:30:25] Speaker A: Sure. [00:30:25] Speaker B: So they had to look at the. At my heart and monitor that while they're monitoring for all these other symptoms. But, yeah, that next morning I woke up and just. Yeah, just didn't have no recollection of what happened. Didn't know where my car was, didn't know where my friend was. Didn't know nothing. [00:30:45] Speaker A: So you died. You died from ghb. You revived and you're still here today. And then you had no recollection of overdosing on ghb, correct? [00:30:57] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah, just. It just wiped my memory. Just was bang. I had to go get stories from everyone else that was around me that night, including family, friends and family and whatnot that were all there. And, yeah, all the videos and everything added up and, yeah, just. Just sent me just dang. One minute I was partying, having a good time, next minute I suffered a head knock and bang. [00:31:21] Speaker A: Bang. You woke up at the rh. [00:31:23] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:31:24] Speaker A: Royal out of hospital. [00:31:25] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah, yeah. [00:31:27] Speaker A: Shocking. Shocking. It's unfortunate. Ghb. It's unfortunate. It's a terrible drug. It can kill you. Like you've, you know, like you, Liam, you died. You died. And if you didn't receive medical assistance, you'd be dead. Today, what do you say to other people that want to use ghb? [00:31:46] Speaker B: No, don't do it, man. It's not worth it, honestly. I've seen it destroy lives. I've seen it destroy family homes. It's one of the most putrid things that I've seen happening. For sure. [00:32:00] Speaker A: Sure. Thank you. Now, what. What happened after that? So what happened with your life then, after overdosing from ghb? [00:32:10] Speaker B: Well, I had to spiral, get back to my old ways, you know, because I still didn't have that mother figure. I didn't have any of that. So I was hanging around different houses and whatnot, cruising around, and then. [00:32:23] Speaker A: So technically, you're homeless? [00:32:24] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah, I was homeless at this stage, but I had a car that one of the older boys bought for me to be a driver, so they bought me a car. [00:32:35] Speaker A: Cruising around. You're sleeping on people's lounges. [00:32:38] Speaker B: And then what happened? Yeah, just. Just couch surfing. And one night, we all got on the. On the meth again. And I was the only one that was younger in the house. The rest were all way older than me, and they were too worried about their own things. And I got given, I'd say about half a ball, maybe a bit more of like. Yeah. [00:33:00] Speaker A: So just so. Just so other people know, a ball is 3.5 grams, so half a ball is 1.75 grams. Correct. [00:33:08] Speaker B: Yeah. Yeah, yeah. [00:33:09] Speaker A: All right. [00:33:10] Speaker B: I had that, and then it was real strong stuff. I don't think it. Yeah, it shouldn't. Shouldn't have been out in the streets. It was. It was a bad lot that shouldn't have been out. [00:33:20] Speaker A: And this is myth. Meth or ice. [00:33:22] Speaker B: Yeah. Yeah. [00:33:24] Speaker A: When you say a bad lot, because a lot of people cut. Cut these products to make them go a bit further. You know, they put ketamine in them. [00:33:31] Speaker B: And all sorts of products for you at the end of the day. But this stuff here was just not. It. It wasn't the right. Yeah, it just wasn't the same. And I took it. I was there, and I didn't realize how much I had. And it come to the point where I was looking down and my throat just started going purple, like, swelling up. Full swelling up my throat. [00:33:52] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:33:52] Speaker B: And I can feel. I could feel friction in my face. I could feel the heat. I could just feel myself getting really hot. So I've, like, sort of looked up at my phone, and I've looked in my phone into the camera, and I could see myself completely purple, and I couldn't breathe. I lost no air no, nothing. I was just sitting there holding my neck, going purple. And if it wasn't for one of the local chicks that were there at the time, if she didn't walk in, then would have just gone from that as well. She had to run in, ended up coming in, slapping me in the face. Well, she dragged me from the kitchen table where I was sitting, where I had all my instruments and everything. She dragged me from there, dragged me to the kitchen sink and obviously she'd been around this stuff when I was young and, you know, I didn't really know what to do. So I was sitting there freaking out because I was going purple and I couldn't breathe, I couldn't do nothing. And she used to come in and, yeah, dragged me, smacked my face, ended up reviving me. And, yeah, I just sat there on the ground for about 10 minutes in sweats, just thinking, what the hell? [00:35:02] Speaker A: What the hell did I do? [00:35:04] Speaker B: Yeah, what the hell am I doing? I didn't. Yeah, just. I didn't know what to do, you know? [00:35:09] Speaker A: So, so, so, so far you've OD'd on GHB juice, you've now OD'd on a product that you thought was methamphetamines or ice. Correct? [00:35:21] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:35:23] Speaker A: Where did it go from there. [00:35:26] Speaker B: After that? I was sort of looking for. I didn't want to keep doing that sort of lifestyle, so I changed and I tried looking around for somewhere else to go and whatnot. And my partner, well, my baby mother, I ended up falling in love with her, you know, years before, and it was just a lost friendship and Kindle that we had. So we ended up talking again and she ended up saying I could come and stay there and, you know, get away from all of. Just everyone on the streets and just being used and all. [00:35:58] Speaker A: Right, so. So you call her your baby mother. So at this stage, you previously had a girlfriend and, and you had a baby or, or, or what's the story? [00:36:08] Speaker B: Well, no, she ended up being. Now she was my girlfriend at the time, if I could go live with her. And it was all good and, you know, we. We were in love and that, but I was still wanting to go back and find that love from my mum, if that makes sense. As much as she still pushed me away. [00:36:27] Speaker A: Family. True family. Yeah. [00:36:29] Speaker B: As much as I was still living with her at this stage, it felt like I wasn't living with her because she was always out still doing the same stuff. She didn't care that I overdosed a couple times. She said she did, but she was Always too busy doing her own things, you know, but she has had her own past traumas and everything that may have caused it, but I was trying to seek that. So I got around there once. I was living with my girlfriend and, you know, try and get back on and just be in that scene, you know, and just try and find the love that I was. Hallway was lost, but it ended up to the point where my partner just turned around and said to me, it's either going to be me or you're going to go back there and you just going to have to. Yeah, work it out. So I sat there and I just thought about it and yeah, just stayed with her and just changed my life. Got back, just stayed on the weed, quit all the other stuff, quit partying, quit going out every night, just every house I could. Whatnot. Yeah, just ended up being good, you know, relaxing. And then, yeah, we found out that we had having our daughter. That's probably the best life, like, best news in life I'd ever heard was that my daughter was on the way. And yeah, it just made me want to be a dad after that, you know, after everything I've been through in the past and all the previous shit that I dealt with just made me want to reach out to my daughter more and change my life before she was here. [00:37:58] Speaker A: So you. So you wanted to give that child a better life than what you were raised in? [00:38:03] Speaker B: Yeah, definitely. As. As much as I lived a high life with, like, some parents and I lived a low life with others, but at the same time, you know, it's. It's still at the same time, it's just. It was never the love love, you know what I mean? And that's something that I needed to show my daughter that I could manage before she was born. [00:38:24] Speaker A: Yep, I can understand that, little brother. I can understand that. Let's just touch on something else that we spoke about before you. Where did you get some of this money to get the drugs from and things like that. And did you ever save from family? [00:38:42] Speaker B: Yeah, I did. I shouldn't have, but I did. It led to the point where I felt like, because me and my dad had argued a few years before that and, you know, everything that had happened and whatnot, I just felt betrayed in them as such. And I felt like I wasn't loved from him either because he was too busy focusing on his own stuff, but he was also having heart problems at this stage. He was having multiple different problems I didn't know about because I was rebellious and I didn't want to be there. So, sure I ended up. I ended up going in and taking a whole heap of his gold one time. And it's something I shouldn't have done, but, yeah, it just led to the point where I just. Anyone, really, any family, anyone around me, I just needed to get it so that way I could get it done for myself. [00:39:38] Speaker A: And that. That was to feed. Feed the addiction, was that. That was to feed the addiction. [00:39:42] Speaker B: Yeah. Yeah, that was just literally so I could go get more. So I could go out and I can find more stuff and I can sell that to the dealers to just keep buying more and more, you know, I just wanted to have it all. [00:39:53] Speaker A: All. No. Yep. I can understand that. Being. Being an ex addict myself. And. And I want to touch on something here as well. After we decided you were going to come on an episode of Cells to Second Chances, I said to you, have you spoken to your dad about this? And then today you messaged me and said, yeah, I've spoken to my dad. Tell me, tell me. Tell me the conversation of that, because it is very powerful what your dad said to you after all of this. [00:40:26] Speaker B: Yeah, well, he. He knows, you know, and he's turned around and said to me, you know, after everything that I've gone through in the long run, you know, because he knows. He's seen me down and out and he's seen me in hospital beds with task force around me, why he's had to come and try and save me before, you know, a couple times. And he knows. And for him to acknowledge I'm actually going out and speaking about it. He was happy, man. He was so happy. Said there's not many people that got the balls to do it. And he. He does want me to, you know, tell my story, so he was happy. [00:41:01] Speaker A: He was. He was. He said to you that you got big balls for going out and telling the world your story to help someone else, but he said something more powerful to you, and that was he's proud of you. [00:41:15] Speaker B: Yeah. Yeah. That's something that I sport my whole life to get done. Yeah. [00:41:21] Speaker A: Did that. How did that make you feel when. When your dad, your stepdad, or, you know, how did it feel when he said, I'm proud of you, son. [00:41:30] Speaker B: Oh, mate, it melts you out. It's something that no drug that nothing can. No high thrill, nothing ever can take the love away from. Yeah. Just having your parent be proud of you after so long. [00:41:44] Speaker A: So it made you feel proud, made you feel proud, made you feel loved. It was more euphoric. Than any drug. Yeah. [00:41:51] Speaker B: Yeah, for sure. Definitely. 100. [00:41:54] Speaker A: Awesome. That's awesome. So your life's gone from that and where's it going now? Where's it going now? Tell me, where have you gone from all of that? What are you doing with yourself now? [00:42:07] Speaker B: Now I'm just. Yeah, my dad. I've got my one daughter, she's five now. Going on six this year. So just kicking back, just living the dad life now. Started up my own business doing gardening and landscaping. I get my family members in and friends to come and give me a hand so that way I can help everyone out. Because we're just trying to help out the family and help out my friends. And I also work at Coles Distribution center as well. Doing that as well. So in both jobs, working flat out at this point. [00:42:41] Speaker A: So you've got a full time job at Coles Distribution Center. [00:42:47] Speaker B: That's casual at the moment. Yeah. But leading into full time. And then I've got also my own gardening and landscaping business I own. [00:42:56] Speaker A: Yep. And I know you're doing a big job this weekend. You told me about that. So you got a job working for someone else. You're also trying to establish your own business. You're looking after a child who you don't want to be in the same situation that what you grew up in. [00:43:09] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah, exactly. Yeah. Just trying to fight together. Trying to, you know, not fight as such. Just trying to live that life that I. I never lived, you know, I just want to give her that love. Loving home and just knowing that dad's always here. Mum's always here, you know, It's. Yeah, it's different, man. It's different. [00:43:30] Speaker A: That's awesome. That's awesome. And you still obviously communicate with my friend, your dad. [00:43:34] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah, yeah, for sure. He's. I call him every day. He. He's still my best friend. It's. [00:43:40] Speaker A: Yeah, your dad's still your best friend? [00:43:42] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah. I'll forever, always will be, man. As much as you know, he will forever be my best friend. [00:43:51] Speaker A: That's awesome. That's awesome, brother. Thank you for telling this story. Thank you. It's very powerful for other people to hear this and I'm. And I'm so implored about you. You're a brilliant lad. You know, from when I first seen you laying in that cottage with everywhere nappy zones changed what you went through to now here on the outside. It's awesome, brother. [00:44:14] Speaker B: Thanks. Hey for that brother. Thanks heaps. It's much appreciated. And yeah, it's just everyone has that life they live, you know, and it's something that I've always wanted to do, come and talk about my previous experiences. Obviously, I've got plenty more, you know, but it's something that I've always wanted to do, so that way I can help others out with, you know, drug addiction, you know, loss, you know, mental, like anything like that. That's something I like to do. Yeah, sure. [00:44:41] Speaker A: My. [00:44:41] Speaker B: Anyone. I just want to help people in general. So it's. It's good. [00:44:47] Speaker A: No, it's been wonderful, and it's. It's a good mentorship for others, what you're doing. But I want to ask you one last question. What's the message you want people to take away from this? [00:45:01] Speaker B: That, you know, as much as you bought into addiction and, you know, you can be born into all different types of lifestyles and. Yeah, I just want everyone to just know that you can make it out if you do try hard enough, you know, you keep your mind focused, you do the right thing, that you can look after you and your family, and you will succeed. You just keep trying. [00:45:24] Speaker A: That's it, brother. It's. It's a fight every day, but we just can't give up that fight. [00:45:30] Speaker B: Yeah, exactly. [00:45:32] Speaker A: Thank you, brother. Much love and respect, folks. There we have it. I promised you this story. Here it is. Liam gave his heart and soul into this story. He needs a lot of love. He needs a lot of affection for this story. And I bless you, brother, for being honest. Love and respect. Thank you, folks. [00:45:50] Speaker B: Thank you.