'I’d had so much to drink I had no idea what I’d done'
15.04.2023 - 20:29
/ manchestereveningnews.co.uk
Having spent his life struggling with his own self-esteem, Martin Preston never felt like he was good enough.
Surrounded by high achievers at Manchester Grammar School, he was an average student, not overly sporty and wasn’t super popular with girls.
So when he had his first sip of alcohol at 14, something inside him changed. Suddenly, he had confidence. He was better at socialising. He felt happier.
“I loved it,” the 39-year-old, who lives in Altrincham, said. “As a teen, it was great fun.”
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But that fun wouldn’t last long. Martin quickly became known as the friend who would always take his drinking too far – going out at every opportunity and jumping between friendship groups to ensure he was always at a party.
Eventually, he began using cannabis and dabbled in ecstasy at the weekends.
Things got much worse when Martin almost died just before sitting his GCSEs after contracting meningitis and septicaemia. The meningitis affected his brain, particularly his short-term memory – leaving him feeling frightened most of the time.
Everything finally came to a head once he attended university. Overwhelmed by his studies, Martin swapped lectures for drinking vodka alone in his room.
“I just wanted to be in my own oblivion,” the dad-of-three said. “When I was sober enough, I answered called from my family and made out I was fine – but my family knew I wasn’t coping.”
Having dropped out of university, Martin still wasn’t ready to accept his drinking problem. Thinking he “just liked to get drunk”, he never saw himself as an alcoholic.
A 28-day stint in rehab didn’t help. Within five months, he