Dad-of-five Reece Rowley said he started using drugs at 14 years old and at one point was spending £3,200 a month on cocaine but revealed how he turned his life around
A dad-of-five who spent £3,200 a month on cocaine, and started using drugs at just 14 years old, shared his incredible transformation.
Reece Rowley said he turned to illegal substances to cope with his anger after his dad left the family when he was a baby. This spiralled into a dangerous habit with the dad eventually blowing £800 a week on cocaine. At the time, Reece had been rough sleeping for eight months and ended up in hospital four times with a suspected heart attack. Reece has since turned his life around after starting a programme, and he now wants to use his experience to help other addicts.
Reece said his life started to spiral when he started smoking cannabis at just 14 years old. His behaviour had gotten so out of control that his mum and stepdad asked him to leave the family home and he moved in with a neighbour.
When he turned 18, Reece became a father and started using cocaine. In the height of his addiction, 5ft 7in Reece was just 9st 5lbs, and the dad dealt drugs and stole to fund his horror habit.
Reece, from Harlow, Essex, slept on the streets for eight months, stole food and went to prison for ABH. He said: “Even so young, my addiction had consequences. My dad took off when I was a baby and raised his two other children and it made me angry. I took it out on my mum and stepdad so they asked me to leave.
“I was left to my own devices and it was scary but from that stemmed more anger and resentment. Addicts are very self absorbed and ‘why me?’ but I wasn’t thinking about how my actions affected my mum and step father.”
Reece revealed how his life of addiction was impacting his young family, saying: “I fell in love with the party life and staying out for days on end, leaving my child and partner at home.
“I got into cocaine. It was a weekend thing at first but it crept into weekdays. I was irresponsible, aggressive and I couldn’t take accountability so my relationship broke down.” The dad said he then lived on the streets “outside a row of shops in the town centre and would wake up surrounded by pigeons” and “had to steal my food and I was skin and bone”.
Reece had four more children and said he was trying to get sober for six years and even tried rehab but left two weeks into the eight-week treatment. He finally decided to give up drugs for good after his second stint in prison.
The dad-of-five said: “I became an existence. Every time I used, I could feel my heart beating. I had pains and I couldn’t breathe or smell. When I thought about the damage to my family and the trauma I’d caused I knew I couldn’t go on like this anymore.
“I looked at myself and knew I couldn’t keep causing pain. I had a choice. I’ve got five children. I can let them bury me or I can choose to give them hope.”
Reece has since turned his life around after starting a 12 step programme. He is now sober, works as a landscaper, weighs healthy 13st and lives with his nan while trying to help others.
Reece said: “I’m so proud of myself. I feel so lucky and grateful. Things are so different now. My mental health, my financial situation, my relationships are better and I can look at myself in the mirror. I haven’t been this sober since I was 14.
“People stop me and say I look so different. I’m able to be more grateful. I see pleasure in the small things like getting up and having a shower. Now I want to use my story to raise awareness and stop an addict from dying. You can come out the other side. I’m aiming to be someone’s sponsor one day but I have to stay disciplined. The addiction wants you isolated but you aren’t alone.”