A recovered Fife alcoholic has told how he once drank his own urine to get a booze hit.
Jamie Lynch, who lives in Dunfermline, hit rock bottom after drinking almost daily for nearly 20 years.
He would often drink for 13 hours a day – starting at 8am – and went on days-long benders.
Jamie’s drinking led to the breakdown of one marriage and a second previous relationship. He also lost contact with his eldest daughter and says he was caught drunk behind the wheel of a car several times.
Now the 39-year-old civil engineer – originally from West Lothian – has been sober for three years and is in a steady relationship with third wife Lara.
‘I was in the pub every night for a year’
The dad-of-two has opened up to The Courier and shared his experiences to give others hope.
He said: “It got to the point my body was craving alcohol and I needed it to keep me on an even keel.
“I was drinking from 8am to 9pm, going to the shop at 9.50pm to make sure I had enough to last me through the night.
“I was hiding drink from myself sometimes. I was a lost person.
“I would drink anywhere between four and eight small bottles of wine in the supermarket toilets.
“I would stop for a while and was going to the gym but then I’d have a drink on a Friday night and not stop for two weeks.
“I was blacking out and at one point in the pub every night for a year.
“I would be that desperate I would drink my own urine thinking I would get a hit from that and there would be some alcohol still left in it.”
Jamie says his problems with alcohol stemmed from a troubled and abusive childhood.
He had his first drink aged 15 which turned into drinking on the streets with his friends.
One marriage and a previous second relationship broke down due to his addiction, which saw him sneak off every day to hide the extent of his drinking.
During his first marriage he was put on antabuse medication and attended counselling but neither worked. After the marriage ended he partied every weekend.
Jamie’s habits continued into his second relationship and after the birth of his first daughter.
He said: “I would get money kept from me or be given the right amount for the shopping we needed.
“I was caught drink-driving three times.”
‘I had a nightmare – that was me heading towards death’
He says his biggest regret was not giving up alcohol sooner for his daughter, with whom he has lost contact.
It was twice being kicked out of the home he shared with his second partner that made him realise he had a problem.
He later decided to move from Bathgate to Dunfermline, where he says he slept in a park for a couple nights with a bottle of wine he had stolen from Tesco.
He turned to his friend Lara for help and slept on her sofa. They ended up marrying four years ago and she is the mum to his second daughter, Amira.
A friend’s Facebook post inspired him to attend his first Alcoholics Anonymous meeting five years ago, but his road to sobriety was halted by a work night out
What started with an alcohol-free beer turned into multiple alcoholic pints and a two-week binge that caused shaking, sweating and nightmares.
Jamie said: “I was drinking till I was ill.
“One nightmare I had, I was falling out the sky towards a white light and my gran was standing there shaking her head at me. I think that was me heading towards death.
“That was the moment I promised my wife I would never drink again. She didn’t believe me but from that day I’ve not had one drop.”
Jamie attended counselling at Fife Alcohol Support Service (FASS), passed his driving test and now runs his own tanning business called Hello Glo alongside his job as a civil engineer.
He is writing a book, and is starting a podcast and a YouTube channel called A Day in the Life of Jamie Lynch to share his story.
He added: “No one is born an alcoholic, there is something that causes it.
“I’ve got my family back and hope to get back into my daughter’s life.
“I’m hoping my story can inspire and help others going through something similar.”
Jamie ‘very motivated to make change’
A spokesperson for FASS said: “Jamie was very motivated in making that change and is a very lovely person.
“While we support a variety of people, it is about offering them a safe, confidential place to feel heard, and for his counsellor Natasha that was really important to her.
“Offering them that space is really important and all that is really required.
“While we supported Jamie, he did all the work.”
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