A FORMER drug addict has overcome his addiction to join the NHS in the height of the pandemic and support others to get out of the same situation.

Darren McGregor battled addiction for three years after losing his mum,

Darren explained: “In 2014, I lost my mum. I was a single dad bringing up three boys, and I just started to fall apart. I had a breakdown, and made a bad choice - I took heroin. It gave me a kind of warm glow, and within a week I was addicted.

“Before long I started smoking crack cocaine - some days I was spending £1,000 a day. This went on for a year; I lost all my money, my belongings, and my children had to go and be taken care of by their grandparents.

“I was living in pure misery; I was trapped, and it kept getting worse.

"I spent time in and out of prison, ended up living on the streets, shoplifting every day, suffering from overdoses and hepatitis, on the run from the police. I was completely broken. I didn’t want to live.”

After yet another stint in prison, Darren was advised about a rehabilitation centre ran by charity Betel, which has a base in Hexham.

He spent 16 months at the centre recovering, and left with a passion to help others in his position.

This year, he acquired a job at Cumbria, Northumberland, Tyne and Wear NHS Foundation Trust (CNTW) as a peer supporter.

Darren works with the Northumberland Recovery Partnership (NRP), a dedicated service for any adults in the county suffering from addiction.

He added: "People judge addicts and the homeless so harshly, and think that it only happens to certain kinds of people who they look down on. But it doesn’t. My job now is all about offering people hope, and someone who they can trust."