My names Dan and I'm an addict. In April 2019 I was fortunate enough to enter a dayhab facility ran by Recovery Connections in Gateshead. At the time I thought my life was over. I knew that I couldn't continue the way I was living but I also couldn't imagine a life without drink/drugs. They were my best friend and worst enemy all in one, the only consistent in my life and the only thing I'd ever truly loved. They were there for the good times, the bad times and the whatever else in between times but they'd long stopped working.

Rehab was the last roll of the dice for me. I'd long lost the will to live. I hated the person I was. I used to go to bed every night hoping to pass away in my sleep and wake up every morning gutted to have survived the night. When I took the decision to go to Rehab, truthfully, I didn’t believe it would work and thought it was just delaying the inevitable and I’d eventually just become another suicide statistic.

Thankfully, it wasn’t like that and it was the best decision I ever made. On April 10th I celebrated 7 years of Recovery, something that would never have been possible without the amazing help and support I received from Recovery Connections.

Last year I attempted to run the Castle to Castle 100 mile ultra marathon and pulled up injured 66 miles in. This was a bitter pill to swallow and after initially swearing I’d never attempt anything like this again, a couple of weeks passed it really didn't sit right with me that I'd not completed something I set out to do. This was my second attempt at 100 miles and both times I'd come up short. I sat down and had a conversation with my amazing fiancée because as much as I suffer running these types of events, she suffers even more watching on and seeing the pain I inevitably put myself through. Together, we agreed that I would sign up to do it again, with the condition she could come crew me for the day.

This year I’m running 2 ultra marathons and have decided to raise money for the charity that without, I wouldn’t be here today and wouldn’t have the opportunity to do things like this.

June 6th - Priory Ultra. 100km from Bamburgh Castle to Tynemouth Priory

July 4th - Castle to Castle. 100 mile ultra marathon from Bamburgh Castle to Edinburgh Castle

Every day I wake up grateful for the chance to live life and I love the life I have today. That wouldn’t be possible without Recovery. That wouldn’t have been possible without Recovery Connections.

#WeDoRecover