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AT THE HEIGHT OF HIS ADDICTION, CONNOR COULDN'T HOLD DOWN A JOB AND ALMOST LOST HIS DAUGHTER 10:28, 17 May 2025 A dad whose battle with alcohol addiction made him contemplate suicide is
marking seven years of being sober. Connor Derbyshire, from St Helens, began drinking at 16. But his habits soon spiralled out of control, causing him to lose several jobs and almost his
daughter. He described how his addiction got "progressively worse" and, by the time he was 18, he was in the pub "pretty much every day". The 28-year-old told the ECHO:
"The drinking started when I left school. I could drink at home and get away with it. "I thought it was my way out of feeling anxious and depressed. I thought I was getting away
from thoughts and feelings inside my head by drinking. But the more I drank the worse I felt." Connor explained what a typical night in the pub would look like for him. He said:
"I'd drink lager until I started to get a stomach ache. Then I'd move on to something a little bit stronger like whiskey. Anything I could afford and get my hands on." At
the height of his addiction Connor met his wife Vikki who became pregnant just two months later with their now eight-year-old daughter, Maddison. He said: "It all happened so quickly
and I don't think I knew how to cope with it all. I used to do anything I possibly could to cause an argument with whoever I was with. If I was with my wife, I'd find a way to
annoy her so we'd have an argument. I knew then if we argued, I'd just walk out and the first place I'd go was the pub. Article continues below "The police came to the
house multiple times. I spent a night at the police station for breach of the peace. And because I had a child they got social services involved. "It got to the point where it was
either the drink or my daughter. I wasn't willing to risk losing my daughter because that would have just ended me. I probably wouldn't be telling this tale now if I'd lost my
daughter." Connor suffered with his mental health around this time, and these issues were made worse by drinking, eventually leading to Connor being sectioned for his own safety after
suicide attempts. He said: "I was in hospital for about a week. People were in there for much worse reasons than I was. That was the turning point for me. I was like, 'why am I in
here? Why am I doing this to myself?' I couldn't keep doing it, not just to myself but to my family as well." Now seven years sober, Connor said he "has a whole new
outlook on life". He told the ECHO: "I don't let things bother me. If something's bothering me, I'll open up and I'll talk about it. I won't just keep it
bottled up until it gets to a point where I explode." Last year, Connor took the plunge to start his own business after finding himself unhappy in his job. He said: "I had no
money. I just had tools, a car and knowledge. I thought, 'what's stopping me from starting up on my own?'" Article continues below Since getting his first repair job,
Connor said his business, Repair and Revive, has "really taken off". He said: "I've got a diary booked at least two months in advance. I don't want to sound
big-headed but I'm flying. I knew I could do it and I have." Anyone interested in Connor's Repair and Revive business can check it out here.