Jersey woman with global fashion success says there is 'life after addiction'
Video report by Annie Knowlson
A woman from Jersey who has struggled with drug addiction has opened a pop-up shop of her fashion brand in a St Helier department store.
Lauren Burnett began experimenting with drugs at the age of 13 and injecting heroin at 14.
"When you're sort of in your teenage years and you're finding it hard to fit in and you don't have great self-esteem then you can find yourself fitting into addiction patterns, for sure."
She later moved to London, as she needed medical treatment following an accident after she overdosed.
"I'd caused myself a severe head injury through an overdose and the only way that they could treat that was with three and a half years of reconstructive plastic surgery."
There she worked for a modelling agency and met famous faces.
It was not until she found out that she was pregnant with her son that she managed to kick the habit.
"That gave me the real motivation and through him I learnt to love myself."
Lauren then started her online fashion boutique Luella Rockerfella, which has found global success with pop-up shops in locations including LA and London.
Proceeds from her fundraising projects have helped support people locally who have faced the same struggles that she has.
The Silkworth Charity Group's Chief Executive Officer, Jason Wyse, says:
"Lauren's supported us for around seven or eight years through various initiatives from selling caps and giving the proceeds to Silkworth to doing a boxing match and raising funds through that. She's a great advocate for recovery, she likes to see people getting well."
Lauren has now been clean of drugs for 11 years. She wants people to know that there is always a life after addiction.
"There is hope out there if you do reach out. It's a shameful disease, but if we're trapped in our shame you can't get help and that's why I talk about it because I don't want there to be a stigma around it because the louder I recover, the less people die quietly."