Life Stories

Dagga helped me to ignore the responsibilities of daily life and took hold of me quickly. As my addiction grew, I began to experience the dark side of a drug which many claim is ‘soft’ and the use of which is often described as harmless fun.

Previously I had been a top sportsman, taking part in rugby, cricket, gymnastics, tennis, swimming, golf, athletics, cycling and wrestling and now I couldn’t even run 100m without wanting to vomit because of my dagga habit. Before dagga I used to be a top performer at school, always at the top of my grade.

Despite going to Bible Class every Saturday and church every Sunday, by the time I was 14 I had started smoking cigarettes and was having the occasional beer, which I would steal from my father’s secret stash in the garage.

?My life of sin started when I was five years old on the day that my mother died in a car accident. On that day I rejected God and the plan that he had for me.

?I woke up one morning in a dog’s kennel, my feet had been hanging out all night in the cold and the dog was lying on top of me. This helped me to realise that I had really hit rock bottom.

?I have lived a life of sin for the past 23 years. I have done quite a bit of prison time for things that I shouldn’t have done as I was a slave to drugs and a slave to Satan for far too long.

In the eight years leading up to 2014 I sold all my possessions, was in prison four times, lived on the streets for up to one year at a time, was involved in house-breakings, was beaten by the community forum and had to eat from dust bins. I lived worse than an animal!

I started drinking alcohol from as early as ten years old. It all started on the so-called “Big Days” over the festive season but soon included even the ‘small days’.