'i was an alcoholic from 14 then quit at 32 - and was told i am dying'

ABI USED TO DRINK EVERY DAY, PUTTING VODKA INTO HER TEA AS A TEEN TO HIDE IT NEIL SHAW Assistant Editor 10:21, 21 May 2025Updated 12:10, 21 May 2025 A woman who says she was an alcoholic

from the age of 14 - when she used to put vodka into her mug first thing in the morning - has been told she is dying, aged 37. Abi says that she drank to suppress trauma. Her father took his

own life when she was three. Abi, from London, said: "I was really reliant on substances - my addiction issues grew as my mental health plummeted. Being alive and being me was too

painful, so I didn't let myself sober up.” Abi drank every day from the age of 14, putting vodka in her tea and hiding bottles in her bedroom. At her worst, Abi was drinking two 700ml

bottles of whiskey or vodka and six to eight beers a day. Abi kept drinking until 2020 - when she returned to her childhood bedroom during lockdown and found herself hiding bottles again.

Then, in 2024, Abi was told she had a brain tumour. The tumour, which is not related to her drinking, means she has 15 years to live. She has undergone two brain surgeries, radiotherapy and

chemotherapy. Abi said: "When I finally got sober, it was like something clicked in my head. I knew I had to stop drinking forever. I was diagnosed with a brain tumour four years into

my sobriety. I thought, 'thank god I'm dealing with this sober'. Article continues below "I wouldn't be able to deal with cancer if I was still drinking - I'm

grateful to past me for sorting myself out so future me could deal with this." Abi drank through her teens, and went backpacking in 2011 aged 23 - where she found other people

"drinking to escape" like her. Abi worked in bars to hide her habit. She said: "I would drink a lot. When it was at its worst I was going through a couple bottles of spirits a

day. I would drink from the moment I woke up to when I would pass out in the evening. I have always struggled with mental health issues. I had a lot of trauma from a young age. "I had

a lot of loss and drinking was the only way to cope." She says drinking stripped her having proper relationships, adding: "I was always hungover, or on the way to the next

hangover. I became irrational, argumentative - it's very difficult to live harmoniously in a relationship because you're so erratic - you're drunk. "I just wasn't

capable of having relationships." She moved to Canada in April 2019 and Abi ended up in a psychiatric hospital in February 2020, after going into "full on self-destruct mode".

Abi said: "There were so many events that should have been a wakeup call. My relationship broke-down because of my drinking, I lost my job for drinking a bottle of vodka at work, I

started smoking crack and eventually attempted to take my own life and ended up on a psych ward. But none of it was a wake up call, it was just another punch that I was rolling with."

Abi moved home to Berkshire in March 2020 - where she tried to hide her addiction issues from her friends and family. She said: "It was only when I was hiding bottles next to my bed in

my childhood home, like I did when I was a teenager, that it hit me. "I had a full circle moment where I felt like a mirror had been held up to my face." Abi hasn't drunk

since. She said: "Withdrawal was really scary, I was bed bound, slipping in and out of consciousness, hallucinating, shivering and sweating for five days. I was so lucky I didn't

have seizures." Four years in, Abi started having headaches, nausea and brain fog but put it down to caffeine withdrawal in October 2023. Eight months later, she was diagnosed with an

incurable brain tumour in June 2024, and is now taking things "one day at a time" as she lives with terminal cancer. She said: "I was told I have 15 years - I'm really

stubborn though so I'll probably live until 100. I'm very grateful for the life I have - every day I'm filled with gratitude. "Before I was diagnosed with cancer I was

just going through the motions and not very happy. Now I'm more positive and enjoy life now that I'm faced with my own mortality. Article continues below "It's very clear

to me how much good I have and I wouldn't want to waste another second not appreciating it."