‘I became a heroin addict at 13 – this is how I got sober’

An Aussie boxing champion has revealed how he became a teenage heroin addict after he began shooting up at just 13.

A professional boxer who started using heroin at just 13 years old has opened up about some of his darkest moments.

After battling a grisly drug addiction for over 22 years, Nick Midgley has seen some of the darkest depths of humanity that most of us could never dream of.

But now at 41-years-old, he has turned his life around and is helping others conquer their own demons thanks to his very own one-of-a-kind rehab centre, Hope In Health, located on the Gold Coast.

Speaking to former detective Gary Jubelin on the I Catch Killers podcast, Midgley opened up about his very time he injected heroin into his veins and the devastating repercussions that shaped his life.

Former heroin addict and rehab founder Nick Midgley. Picture: Jane Dempster/The Daily Telegraph.

“I was a kid from Melbourne that grew up and gravitated to drugs really quickly,” he told Jubelin.

“I didn’t understand why, I seemed to have come from a decent family in a decent area.

“My dad was a good provider, you know, spent times at good schools.

“From an outside perspective, there was no idea why it happened, you know?

“And I sort of lived in that confusion. I didn’t really know why I got into drugs.”

He explained that he felt he may have been dealing with undiagnosed ADHD during school and when he was first introduced to heroin, it was like everything suddenly made sense.

Midgley said his parents actually had no idea about his habit until they discovered his drug paraphernalia in his boarding school jacket blazer.

“I felt really dumb at school and couldn’t understand what was going on most of the time,” he explained.

“I could read, I just couldn’t digest the information.

“When I found heroin, I felt like my mind was just relaxed. I was able to focus on what I doing.

“I thought I had found the holy grail of substances. The secret to life.

“I had a bit of an ego back then, I thought junkies came from bad backgrounds. I didn't think I'd get addicted.

“It was my own little secret. But my parents found out after finding drug stuff in my blazer after I’d run away from boarding school. By the age of 16, I was fully addicted.”

He explained that he used to get his hands on the drug by helping move some of it around while in his school uniform, as “nobody would suspect” a student.

His first brush with sobriety came when he was 17 and a mentor took him to the Italian island of Sicily to help get him off the drugs, learn some trades and prepare him for a better future.

He was addicted to heroin as a teenager. Picture: Supplied

“He was a bit of a knockout around Melbourne too, and he said mate I’m going to go to Sicily to get clean and I want to take you,” he said.

“I had a few months left of school, so I finished that and he took me over.

“I will never forget her told me that I wouldn’t live to see 21 if kept living how I was.

“He actually did take me, and it was an incredible experience. The Italians work very hard.

“I got off heroin but was still drinking and would sometimes do a couple of lines of coke at parties.”

Despite still dabbling in other substances, Midgley got off heroin during the three years he spent three years over in Italy.

He was feeling better and more focused. But it all fell apart when he came back to Melbourne.

Within just three months, he was doing heroin again regularly and had fallen back hard into his addiction.

Struggling with drug or alcohol addiction? Call the National Alcohol and Other Drugs hotline 24/7 hours a day on 1800 250 015

The former heroin addict is sharing his story to help inspire others to better their lives. Picture: Instagram

“Melbourne itself is a really dangerous city for me to be in.” he said.

“You know, I’ve had a shot in like every toilet in the city. I know the streets, I know all the area, I know who to look for.

“There’s heroin, there’s ice, there is all different stuff. I ended up getting myself in a bit of trouble.

“I had to, had to get outta town just because I, my whole life was just fucking falling apart.”

Midgley would continue to fight addiction for over a decade, before finally managing to get clean four-and-a-half years ago.

He recalls that one of his darkest moments was after a heroin overdose that was so strong he could not walk for four days and had been close to the brink of death.

He now dedicates his life to helping others who have been down some of the same paths he has during his fight with addiction.

“My initial vision for the rehab was just for it to be more health conscious,” he explained.

“I didn’t want it to be a place where people just get caffeine and smoke cigarettes at the back and eat out of ending machines.

“I thought, let’s take all the junk food away. Let’s get them eating good food and get into training, to get in good physical shape.

“When people change those lifestyle factors, they often end up just enjoying life so much. and they don’t go back to their vice.”

He spoke about his life story on the I Catch Killers podcast. Picture: YouTube

As well as the original rehab centre at the Gold Coast, which hosts 9 people, Hope In Health, has just opened another spot in Pottsville, in Northern NSW, which has a capacity for 5.

Each venue has many different staff working there to make it all possible, from doctors, nurses and psychologists, to carers, chefs and yoga teachers.

Midgley said it is the most rewarding thing he has ever done and urges anyone who is struggling with addiction to simply take the first step to seek help.

Ex-detective Gary Jubelin is the host of the I Catch Killers podcast which readers can listen to here.

Originally published as ‘I became a heroin addict at 13 – this is how I got sober’