A former addict, who blew £3,500 a week on drugs, has shown off her amazing transformation after turning her life around.
Charlotte Seaman was hooked on heroin and cocaine for 24 years before she got help.
The 35-year-old has now been clean for four months.
After being homeless on and off throughout adulthood, the mum-of-three has secured a four-bedroom council house.
And now she plans to help other people win their battle against addiction.
“For the last 10 years of my life, I’ve woken up and wanted to die, but now I want to live,” Charlotte, from Clacton-on-Sea, Essex, told Need To Know.
“I accepted I would die like that, but I didn’t have to.
“If you want it enough, you can recover.
“I was homeless on and off. I’ve slept in train stations, behind an Argos and been in dangerous situations.
“I never thought I would be able to sit in my own home with my kids, but anything is possible and life can change.
“In my heart, I knew I was done. I didn’t want to die, so something had to change and I was hurting my family.
“My mum said she felt like she was grieving.
“She used to record me and show me the states I would get into.”
Charlotte almost lost her leg due to blood clots and was diagnosed with Hepatitis C in 2012.
She said: “At 19, I started injecting and things really got out of control.
“I was thieving to pay for it and I could spend around £3,500 a week.
“I almost lost my leg because I got blood clots where I was injecting.
“That’s the depths of addiction.”
Charlotte started taking drugs when she was 11.
She has three children who were taken in by her parents, but it still wasn’t enough to convince her to quit drugs.
Charlotte said: “I kept thinking having a child would change or stop me but it didn’t.
“I haven’t been sober since I was 11. I was smoking weed then I moved on speed.
“I always felt different when I was a child, like there was something missing.
“Drugs were escapism.
“I was raised by a really good family and I don’t come from a broken home but I was searching for something.”
Charlotte signed up to Cocaine Anonymous in January and says it transformed her life.
She said: “I couldn’t live like that anymore. I couldn’t see a way out.
“Cocaine Anonymous gave me hope because people had stories about being clean for years.
“I tried to get clean before but I wasn’t ready. I would substitute one drug for another.
“Desperation was a gift. I had nothing left.
“I have to pinch myself when I think about how my life has changed.
“I have my own four-bedroom house and my children come and go as they please.
“I don’t have any health problems or mental health issues anymore.
“I’ve never worked but I want to work with addicts and give back or work in hair and beauty. At least I have the option now.
“I never felt right and now I do. I want to try and help other people and I want to send the message that we can recover.
“It is possible to get clean. We think we aren’t worth it but we are.
“Everyone deserves help.”
