Every day in the UK twenty people die because of alcohol. It can affect anyone, from any walk of life. But alcohol harm is not inevitable.

In 2023, my beautiful mum became a part of this statistic.

There is a huge stigma around Alcoholism & many alcohol dependant people are too embarrassed to receive help. My mum had a very long 9 year battle with trying to stop drinking - she felt too ashamed to say she was struggling. She was known as a Functional Alcoholic, so a lot of people in her life were not aware of her addiction until she became severely ill.

Her life wasn't any sort of one you see of a 'stereotypical' Alcoholic in a movie - she was a hard-working, loving & caring woman. She would make my breakfast, school lunches & dinners every single day. She would walk myself and my brother to school. She would sit and work through homework with us to make sure we were doing well in school. She would dance to the radio every day as well as singing her heart out whenever her favourite song came on. This all changed when she received a diagnosis of severe liver scarring in 2019.

Alcohol harm costs the NHS an estimated £3.5 billion each year.

Her last four years were full of tears, hugs, denial and pain. An accumulation of over six long-haul hospital visits, different types of testing every three months & four different types of drugs she had to take daily is part of what the NHS helped with. With her illness, she slowly became a shell of a person she used to be. The radio was never on anymore. The amazing food smells from the kitchen dissappeared. You could no longer find her sitting in her favourite spot in the livingroom. & yet she was still too embarrassed to ask for help.

Until sadly in August of 2023, she passed away surrounded by her close family and friends. She was only 43 years old.

It is never too late to ask for help. You are surrounded by people that do not want to see you go through what my mum did.

This is why this year I am running the National Park Half Marathon for Alcohol Change UK, in honour of my mother, and anyone struggling with Alcoholism. Any donation would be greatly appreciated to this amazing Charity that provides support for alcohol dependant individuals as well as their families. Let's get rid of the stigma, & provide education on healthy alcohol use!