Kiwi battler turns around life of addiction and abuse thanks to newfound love for running
TVNZ One News 25 September 2020
Family First Comment: Unfortunately for Chris, he made all the wrong choices as a result of a difficult upbringing. “I was 16, got top of the form at Wellington Boys College, started smoking cannabis heavily and I went from the very top of the year to the next year I got very last,” he said.
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For more than two decades, Chris O’Riley was trapped in a web of addiction and abuse.
Unfortunately for Chris, he made all the wrong choices as a result of a difficult upbringing.
“I was 16, got top of the form at Wellington Boys College, started smoking cannabis heavily and I went from the very top of the year to the next year I got very last,” he said.
Chris’ fall wasn’t because of a lack of love though – his mum Barbara was always there for him.
“Mum had the biggest heart, and the most caring person I’ve ever met,” he said.
“And I grew up like that too – she passed it onto me. I used to think it was a burden, caring so much, but it’s a gift, I just had to learn how to handle it.”
But beyond caring, his mum had her own demons; alcohol addiction and schizoaffective disorder.
It soon became a battle Chris would experience himself with his addictions eventually leading to a 14-month stay at a rehabilitation clinic last year however he’d barely been there a fortnight when tragedy struck.
READ MORE: https://www.tvnz.co.nz/one-news/sport/other/kiwi-battler-turns-around-life-addiction-and-abuse-thanks-newfound-love-running
