Pete started using drugs at a young age, meaning that by the time he came to DHI, he had been injecting drugs for nearly 40 years. He was living a chaotic lifestyle, his health was suffering and he was living with Hepatitis C.
By interacting with our peers, he was helped into our services and started to attend groups at our Central Hub. He got support to get treatment for his Hepatitis C and was cleared of the infection in 2018, then in 2019, we facilitated getting him into an inpatient detox.
Once he was abstinent, we invited him to become a peer. He completed the peer training and gained access to other courses and services through our help. Now he triages new clients, he helps facilitate new groups and he is a volunteer with the Hepatitis C Trust. In that role, he signposts chaotic drug users to our treatment services so that they can hopefully follow the same path he did.
Pete said: "Helping others gain improved health and independence from their addictions helps me to stay focused. I can honestly say it is unlikely I would still be around in 2020 if it were not for the action and intervention gained from connecting with the DHI Bristol services."
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