WALKING FROM ADDICTION
and Divine Intervention
I am preparing some work for Recovery Day and I am entitling it, Divine intervention
Divine intervention is that mysterious moment when something greater than us gently steps in, reshaping the path ahead with grace …
Everyone in Recovery House talks about this phenomenon, these words can seem fey, whimsical, or dreamy to others, outsiders. Yet they are the cornerstones of this place, a microcosm of survival. Here, people willingly peel back their layers and take a hard look at their lives, raw, open wounds waiting to close, to heal. But pour salt on them, and I scream my pain.
The Recovery House I mentioned briefly in Marley’s zine story is a special space, naturally different.
Marley the Rooftop Runner ZINE
I recently met my sister and niece in London, we went to a zine show in Kings Cross
You can feel it the moment you walk in, a deep-rooted energy, focus, and care. It clings to the walls, rises from the smells, and radiates from the residents themselves. There’s a striking honesty here, and a shared belief in something higher. Whether it’s light, energy, or a guiding force behind the scenes, it’s there. Everyone has a story of how they found their way into recovery. Each person carries a mantra, a truth, a way of holding on, their own way of making sense of it all, and owning it.
That’s powerful.
And it’s not easy to get to a House like this. Before I share Lewis and Marco’s stories, here are a few facts below. (For UK).
Most rehabs in the UK are either private, and nearly impossible to access, or require you to jump through countless hoops. When you’re dealing with both mental health issues and addiction, and have limited resources, it’s incredibly hard to know where to turn.
About a quarter of adults in treatment for alcohol or substance abuse also have ADHD. According to Rehabs UK, adults with ADHD are nearly three times more likely to struggle with substance use than those without the condition. Among young people with ADHD, between 33% and 44% deal with alcohol misuse or dependence.
How a referral is made (taken from the NHS website.)
After assessing your situation, your GP will decide if rehab is appropriate and, if so, refer you to NHS treatment options. NHS rehab often involves a wait, (Up to two years!) which varies by region due to demand and ongoing NHS pressures like staff shortages and industrial action. While waiting, stay proactive: stay in touch with your GP, connect with local support groups, speak to loved ones, and plan for any work or family needs.
Lewis and Marco tell me that it is Divine Intervention which brought them to recovery.
Lewis decided to leave Glasgow and come on a drinking bender to the UK.
Off he went, with a few bob in his pocket and a pile of dreams to get hell-blasted in the seaside town of Margate via London.
(Film by Jeanne for Lewis - 2025)
Why the hell are you coming from Scotland to get pie-eyed in Margate of all places?
“Why not!”
Yes, why not?
Lewis, a hardened drinker by trade. Starting at 13; from the ghetto area, Govanhill, tells me that ‘drinking was normal, every Scotsman I know, drinks. And hard!’
So he buys his first bottle of vodka of the day to drink on the beach. He’s happy, not yet really drunk, and he starts thinking about all the things he’ll do once he’s clean. In that heady state, dreaming comes easy. He drifts off to sleep, and when he wakes, it’s already dark. Someone’s nicked his half-empty bottle.
So he heads to a corner shop, but the shopkeeper says he can’t understand his accent. Lewis shouts louder. Words turn to fists. Before he knows it, they’re bare-knuckle boxing, kicking hell out of each other. The police are called. He ends up in a holding cell.
But he doesn’t really mind. He has nowhere in particular to go. Margate was simply a childhood dream, where his mum met his dad at Dreamland funfair.
He’ll be out tomorrow.
But tomorrow turns into four years. Twenty-three small incidents, unpaid fines, missed court dates, drunk and disorderly behaviour, all add up. Pay up, with interest, or do the time.
Lewis choses TIME.
Time for Lewis is his freedom. Sent to Rochester Prison, the town which Charles Dickens had a deep connection to. The first thing he does is get a copy of Great Expectations. He quotes: “I am what you have made me. Take all the praise, take all the blame; take all the success, take all the failure; in short, take me,“ Magwitch, to Pip.\
So, his new life begins. He starts AA, learns, dreams more, gets healthy. From nine stone he builds up to thirteen stone. And four years later, he is released to start over.
He says the problem was his heart is healed, not his head.
That first night, he has nowhere to go, so he heads to Maidstone, why, he has no idea, he likes towns starting with M, the old capital of Kent. It’s pretty cold out as it’s November, and he has no idea where to sleep, so he finds a crook down by the river.
That night, as he lies in the damp, covered by his jacket, he thinks of the good old days in Glasgow, his mates, the pub, his ma, his brother Jack, and drink. This is the first time in four years he has wanted, needed. He cries all night, as everything is shut, and the next morning, just as he’s on his way to the first shop he can find, he sees MADM charity. A woman is opening the door. She turns, sees him, and gives a quick and open smile.
So he follows her in …
… This is Lewis’ divine intervention, in the shape of Soleste, who immediately contacts a rehab, that just happens, that very day, to have one place available. Like winning the lottery in the almost impossible to get to places.
2 year later and stage 3
Lewis is preparing for Recovery Day, where he will present his idea to do a charity walk for the House on the Camino de Santiago.
He is learning stained glass, mentors others and has wants to work in recovery.
He is finishing his certification.
This is the chart we created for Recovery Day, which will be the backdrop on the screen.
(Names changed and site.)
Marco’s story
Marco, a sharp, street-smart wheeler-dealer, infamous growers of the UK Cheese Strain of marijuana. By the time his intervention comes, he’s been on a 20-year binge, coke, crack, Jack Daniel’s (two bottles a day), weed, and cigarettes. One day, he heads to his mum’s house, but when no train comes, he starts walking through backwater roads, woods, and lanes; a 40-mile journey into the unknown.
Can you take us back to that walk again? What actually happened?
Everything.
I was using so many drugs and alcohol during the walk. I was probably talking to myself, rambling out loud. But I was also seeing beauty for the first time, the sun setting, wildflowers, that random lily, and even the stone marker pointing to Maidstone. That hit me.
From the bridge to my mum’s place, that first twenty minutes, reality started kicking in.
“What am I doing?”
“I could’ve just taken the train.”
I had a broken hip. Metal running through me. And here I was, walking for nine and a half hours, through hills and woodlands. Questioning my life for the first time. Wondering if it was even worth being here.
But after that initial part, something just took over. Then something inside me snapped. A shift. I asked for help. There in the woods. I wasn’t questioning anything anymore. I was just being guided. Pushed forward.
Eventually, I arrived at mums around midnight. I probably didn’t crash straight away, I was still smoking weed, maybe even doing a couple more lines.
Then in the morning, I went to the doctor and they would not believe I was going to die. “Come back in two weeks when we have an appointment.”
An angel in the form of a paramedic came rushing out and said, “No, no, no, I’ll take him. He can talk to me.”
What happened when she stepped in?
She quickly took me into her office and asked what was wrong. And I just broke down. First time I’d ever done that, just full tears, telling her I couldn’t do it anymore.
She drove me herself to the hospital for a psychiatric evaluation. After that, she took me back, because at the time, I was living in a shed on an allotment in Tunbridge Wells. She dropped me at the council office and told them, “You’ve got to help him.”
She later told me she was not meant to be on duty that day, she just happened to come in to leave some forms in the office.
She was my Divine Intervention. If not for her, I would have died later that day. I know it. I wanted it.
The council gave me keys to an HMO - house in multiple occupation. That’s when I went to AA for the first time, guided there by the Porchlight workers. They were like key workers who verified my homelessness. They said if I wanted rehab, I needed to really be clean.
And that first AA meeting?
That was the start. At the first meeting, I met the man who became my sponsor. Again, he wasn’t even supposed to be there that day. But he came, so that was another Divine Intervention.
I asked him to sponsor me. He gave me a few small things to do, pray and write a gratitude list, and I did both them. With faith.
The next morning I woke up and the craving was gone. No desire to drink. No coke. Just gone.
Divine intervention
On the 30th day, I went to collect my chip, and he nudged me under the table. He whispered, “This is total abstinence.”
Two weeks after that, I entered rehab. And that began the next part of the journey.
And in rehab, this new life?
Yeah. A completely new life. Saying goodbye to the old one.
I mentioned this in a meeting last night, I’ve been clean for nine months now, but it feels like I’ve been going to meetings for years. At the same time, it also feels like yesterday.
That’s the strange thing, the old life doesn’t feel far away. It’s not gone. It’s just… there.
Even though my life was a mess, I wasn’t a bad person. I wasn’t hurting others, I was hurting myself. I still saw my son, still had love for my mum, and those relationships stayed intact. They’re just better now, more peaceful, more grounded.
And now? I’m dog walking. Doing charity work. Volunteering at an animal rescue centre. I walk the dogs on the common and have never been happier.
Not looking for anything in return. Just doing it because what I get back is that peace, that purpose, and that is more than enough.
Thank you so much for reading this. It means so much to me.
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Have a wonderful month ahead.
