Two years ago, I was interviewed by Huseyin Djemil for the Towards Recovery Journeys Podcast. I later edited this interview into 12 film clips and posted them on YouTube, and provided links and brief in a post on my Recovery Stories website. I later provided the same details in a blog post for our Recovery Voices website. Here is one of the edited films which relates to Natalie, the young lady I first met back in 2000 and who inspired me to start writing stories about recovery.
Inspired by Natalie’s Story: ‘Journeys Podcast with David Clark and Huseyin Djemil (Part 5)
David describes meeting ‘Natalie’, a former heroin addict, in his early days of working in the field. He reads a section of her Story that was posted on his Recovery Stories website in 2013.
‘There were about fifteen people in my first group session, one of whom was an ex-heroin user who had been clean for about 16 years. She came over to talk to me and I was in awe. She had done exactly what I was doing and she had gotten through it. From that moment on, I didn’t feel so alone. It was a Light Bulb Moment. From that moment on, I didn’t feel so alone. For the first time, I was with a group of people who understood me and my addiction, and I understood and related to them and with what they were saying….’ Natalie
Natalie also explained to David that when she was using heroin she didn’t ever meet anyone who had given up using the drug. She couldn’t find any information on the internet about stopping using heroin. ‘I had to carry on doing what I was doing.’ Natalie told David that if he wanted to help people with serious substance use problems, he should tell stories of addiction and recovery. He asked her if he could tell her story and she agreed.
Natalie is now over 20 years in recovery. David updated Natalie’s Story in 2020, which revealed Natalie’s traumatic experiences prior to her starting to use heroin. You can read that updated story on our Recovery Voices website.