A Testimony of a Life Changed
Scott O


My name is Scott.
I am 21 years of age. I was raised in Ballincollig in Cork. I lived with both parents until I was eleven and then they split up. It was about this time that I started to be curious about drugs. I started to smoke hash and drink because other people were doing it and it felts good to fit in. I carried on doing this and I started to get curious about other drugs. I started to take ecstasy and prescription medication and I lost a lot of weight from taking ecstasy. I loved the buzz I used to have when I was taking it with my friends and it filled the empty hole that was inside in me for a little while. I was 13 or 14 at this stage. By the age of 15 I was smoking heroin and I fell in love with it. It was the answer to all life’s problems, whenever I took it I didn’t have to worry about things in life anymore and it made me feel secure in myself and confident. But little did I know of what the effects would be from it. In no time I was “storing out” and my life revolved around heroine. I also had a bad problem with prescription tablets at this stage. I was 17. I did everything to get money. I sold drugs, stole and I also worked but I was never reliable to go into work. I started to lose trust from family, friends and my girlfriend. I tried to get help a few times from different treatment centres but they didn’t work they just gave me a bit of clean time.
It wasn’t until February 2010 that a change started to come about in my life. I got saved and asked Jesus Christ to help me. I went to a local church and my life started to improve. This was all new to me because I was brought up as Catholic but I knew there was something special about it so I kept going back to church. I got off heroine and methadone from doing this and I got so prideful and stopped going to church. This is when I started to slip back into heroine and tablets addiction again and in no time my life was in bits. I lost my home, lost nearly all my possessions and all respect from everyone. I was brought to my knees again asking God to help me and I am now in the RU men’s home in Dublin and it was the best decision I ever made. I have my confidence back and relationships are restored but most of all I have a relationship with Jesus Christ.