When Josh Calliss opened his door to the police on August 9, 2021, he learned his brother-in-law was dead from a drug overdose.
Josh had himself battled for 20 years to overcome the grip of heroin, methadone and other drugs — and the heartbreaking loss of his relative jolted him into a second chance at his own life.
At 16, Josh, from Port Lincoln in South Australia, started taking prescription painkillers after his hand was injured in a work accident at a tuna farm.
Having lived the extreme highs and the gut-wrenching lows of opiate addiction, the death of his brother-in-law was the sword to overcome his addiction.
"Shit, that could have been me because I was living so much [more] radical compared to the way he was," Josh, now 38, says.
"It's just going to continue … until something really drastic happens in your life where you pull up and go, 'Woah, this needs to stop now, otherwise I'm going to be dead or I'm going to be in jail or something is going to happen to my kids.
"I couldn't ever live with that."
Now, Josh shares his life story as a lived-experience counsellor at the Healing Circle, a support service in Port Lincoln helping people overcome alcohol or drug addiction.
His journey is an inspiration to others.
"For them to be able to see me change … it makes them have a bit of faith in themselves that they can do it," Josh says.
"I've been off methadone since January last year (2022) and I haven't used any meth or ice … for probably four years, nearly five, but I was still using my opiates from the doctors right up until January last year."
Story By Jodie Hamilton
Original Story: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-01-06/overcoming-drug-addiction-with-healing-circle-group-therapy/103086538 story:
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