A FORMER heroin addict from Greenock who was hooked on the deadly drug for more than ten years has told how he found the love of his life through rehab.
Dean Ferrie - who conquered his demons and now works as a recovery development co-ordinator - met his wife Ashleigh when she was starting out on her own journey to self redemption.
The couple's joy is now complete following the arrival of their baby son, Caleb, a fortnight ago.
Dean told the Tele that he 'feels amazing' when he looks back at how his life has been transformed after he faced up to the darkest and bleakest of times when he thought his substance abuse would kill him.
Dean, 35 - who lost his dad at the age of just 14 - said: "I get really overwhelmed when I think about what I've achieved.
"I can't believe it sometimes.
"You have to get up and get going again every day and never give up."
Dean met Ashleigh on the Teen Challenge bus in 2020 through his work with The Haven.
The determined dad had started a programme of rehabilitation there in 2019, soon after he realised that his life would end if he didn't stop using.
He is now using his lived experience to help others through the Your Voice organisation.
Dean told how the passing of his father had been a pivotal moment in his life.
He said: "My upbringing before that was great.
"I became really angry and frustrated with life and started rebelling against authority.
"I was a real handful for my mum and got myself into a lot of bother."
Dean started taking speed and drinking alcohol when he was 15 and began using heroin and valium at 19.
He said: "I felt like I couldn't do life without drugs.
"I can see now that I was doing it to mask the pain of the trauma and loss.
"I was destroying relationships with my friends and family."
After losing his cousin tragically in a boxing match, Dean said he started to go 'completely off the rails'.
(Image: Duncan Bryceland)
He started injecting heroin and over the next ten years was trapped in a cycle of staying in hostels and being in and out of prison.
He said: "I didn't care about life any more, I just couldn't be bothered.
"I know that some people around me enjoyed that kind of life but I never did.
"I was destroyed inside."
By his late 20s, Dean says he was taking every drug that he could, and when he hit 30 he said he had 'no fight left'.
He added: "I knew my life was coming to an end.
"I had bad infections on my hands and feet from injecting, and I was on methadone and prescription drugs."
Dean's life changed when he was put into the path of a Christian lady called Fiamma Dobson.
Within four weeks of meeting her, his life had completely changed.
He said: "I was sitting in the house one night and I completely broke down, wondering how I was going to get out of my situation.
"I was put in touch with Fiamma who told me she had been working with guys like me for 30 years.
"I thought I was too far gone but she said she could help me.
"I went to her house and she told me there was a place for me to go and get help, and that if I listened to the leaders, I would never look at drugs in the same way again."
(Image: Dean Ferrie)
Fiamma took Dean to church and together they worked on a rehabilitation referral for The Haven.
Dean said: "It's a massive miracle that Fiamma found her way into my life.
"I don't know where I would be now without her.
"She gave me so much comfort and was so confident that I could go on and change my life."
When Dean entered The Haven, he said it was like 'going into the unknown'.
He completed the 11-month programme and was offered an internship where he got the chance to work with new people arriving at the centre.
Dean gained an SVQ 2 and 3 in health and social care while he was working with the team.
Telling of the moment how he met his future wife Ashleigh, he said: "She appeared on the bus one night and it's clear she was in need of help.
"She had just been released from prison.
"She knew some of the guys who were on the bus already and knew how their lives had changed."
Dean has a daughter Evie, seven, from a previous relationship, and he and Ashleigh share wee baby Caleb who was born earlier this month.
The couple go to Hope Community Church every Sunday.
Dean said he loves his job at Your Voice which he started a month ago because help people who are trapped in the cycle he once found himself in.
He added: "The job is amazing opportunity for me to show people that there's a way out, and let them know that they don't have to keep on living that life.
"I want to help people understand that there are places like The Haven.
"If you are struggling, please pick up the phone and speak to someone."
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