'I didn't want to die': How ex-addict who had heart attack at 25 is helping others through football

• As a teenager, Charlie Barker's drug habit constantly got him into trouble with police. After an isolating recovery, he is now supporting others through football. Ann Yip spoke to Charlie and two others - a data analyst and a rapper - who shared their stories about their addiction.

Charlie Barker knew he had to come off drugs after he had a heart attack at 25, and was told by medics he might not live until 30.

Now 32, and four years sober, he's helping others with similar backgrounds through a football group.

Charlie was just 13 when he started smoking marijuana with the older kids. He went into care after being kicked out of the family home.

“I was absconding from care homes. I was hanging about with people who were 16/17, they were smoking weed and doing drugs," he told ITV News Anglia.

"I ended up robbing to get money, to get drugs, and it was just a vicious circle. They put me in a secure unit first for six months, and then a young offenders unit after that."

And then came the wake-up call.

"When I was 25 years old, I had a heart attack, [and] got rushed into hospital. All my muscles around my heart were inflamed due to the steroid and cocaine misuse.

"And the hospital basically said to me, if I don’t sort my life out now, I’m not going to live till 30 years old."

He said: "Being so young, you just think you’re going to live forever. So when I found out, it hit me hard. It hit me hard with depression, self-harming thoughts."

It also hit Charlie hard as a father.

“Everywhere I moved to, the police were kicking off my door. There was one time when they kicked off the door, my son was six years old. [I felt] that life’s not for me anymore, that’s not for my children."

It took Charlie six months to come off drugs, a time he remembers as an isolating experience during which he did not leave his home.

It is why he started his football group in Cambridge, Addicted to Football, as a safe space for those battling addiction and mental health.

Charlie said: "I was sitting indoors one day and I just thought - there’s just not enough help for people that are struggling.

"There were a lot of people around me professional-wise, but I could never listen to them. They would never know where I was coming from; they would never understand what I’d been through.”

Despite the support on offer, the figures bear out the need for a range of approaches to help people in their recovery.

Less than half of people in England come out of rehab successfully, according to government statistics.

According to the Office for National Statistics, more than 3,600 people in England and Wales died from drug misuse in 2023. In the East of England, there were 269 deaths.

And there were more than 8,400 deaths linked to alcohol abuse in England and Wales - 687 in the East.

Data analyst Victoria Broomhead, 53, from Suffolk, knew she had to quit alcohol, after recent devastating liver test results.

She told ITV News Anglia: “Alcohol makes you into a person that you’re not. You become deceitful.

"[You say] 'Oh no, no, I haven’t had a drink', and you’re lying effectively to everyone.

"It’s cost me friendships, relationships, job opportunities."

She said: "My daughter was just 21 at the end of November; my son [was] 16 on Boxing Day. And I owe my children, my family, and my boyfriend just to be around longer.”

Withdrawal left her bedridden - then she spotted Charlie’s call for players.

“I went cold turkey, it was really bad and potentially dangerous," she said.

"It was in my first couple of days, I could barely move, I was just lying in bed. I did pick up my phone, I saw on Facebook Charlie's post about Addicted to Football, so I messaged him and I just said: 'Is it open to girls as well?'

"And Charlie messaged back saying, 'Yeah, 1,000% - open to everyone'."

For Victoria, playing football is her alternative to traditional rehabilitation.

"I didn’t want to sit around for two hours and talk about my addiction and alcoholism," she said. "I just felt like when I walked out of there, it just made me want to drink more."

Now with a sparkle in her eyes, she said: "So I’m just hoping every week I manage to hit the ball, a couple more times - I’m considering that a win. And yeah, we just have a laugh.”

Builder and rapper Mike Gilceava has written a new song about his struggle with addiction

Builder and rapper Mike Gilceava, 35, found himself homeless after a life of partying and drugs. He’s been clean for a decade now.

Mike said he was introduced to drugs after moving to England from Romania at the age of 19.

Describing his life at the time, he said: "Every day, every day, party party party, losing my jobs and everything. I lost a house, I became homeless.

"After that, the charity helped me, the hostels helped me; they put me in the right direction."

Describing what it is like to be addicted, he said: "It’s hard, it’s hard!

"At the beginning, it’s fun. You go with your friends, drinking, smoking. But at the end of the day, you realise that you don't want that in your life, you want better than that.

"Have a job; have a wife; kids; that’s what life is about, no?"

He said: "So now I’m doing well, I work in construction, I’m going to the gym, I’m doing music.”

Charlie’s group caught the eye of Cambridge City Football Club, which is now sponsoring them.

Sean Coxon, communications director at Cambridge City, said: “I was really inspired by what Charlie was doing.

"Initially, we’ll be helping him with some space, so he’ll be using our 3G pitch.

"And we’d like to get them involved in volunteering as well. Volunteering is quite a big part of rehabilitation, in that it gives somebody a bit more purpose in life. So we’re really happy to invite them in and become part of the Cambridge City family.”

Having set up his group just a few months ago, Charlie hopes to attract more people.

“The amount of people who say the group is really helping them, it’s benefiting them - it’s a really heartwarming feeling for me," he said.

"Knowing I went through all that rubbish back then... It gives people something to look forward to at the end of the week.”

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