A mother-of-two who was once spending an eye-watering £900-a-day on heroin has revealed how a terrifying health scare left her in a two-month coma and ultimately saved her life.
Caroline Winyard, 47, from Staffordshire, battled a 26-year addiction to hard drugs that began when she was just 18 after falling in with the wrong crowd.
Her downward spiral saw her funding her drug habit through daily shoplifting, with heroin becoming a central part of her life for more than two decades.
At her lowest, Caroline said she couldn’t even get out of bed without using and admits she’d go straight from her bed to the shops to steal and smoke drugs, skipping food altogether.
‘I was in a downward spiral for 26 years. I was spending £900 a day. I couldn’t wake up without it. I’d get up, not eat, go and shoplift and smoke,’ she said.
Caroline’s addiction started testing pills and acid – but soon escalated to ecstasy and then heroin, leaving her completely dependent.
‘I was addicted and hooked. I was shoplifting every day,’ she added.
Caroline Winyard, 47, from Staffordshire, battled a 26-year addiction to hard drugs that began when she was just 18 after falling in with the wrong crowd
Doctors told her she had endocarditis, a potentially fatal infection of the heart’s inner lining, which had led to nine strokes
Tragically, her two children – now aged 30 and 29 – were adopted out when they were just toddlers, after Caroline’s addiction made it impossible for her to care for them. She struggled for years to break the cycle of drugs and crime.
But in May 2023, her body began to give up. Caroline began feeling dizzy and thought it was vertigo. A drug worker urged her to call 999 but she ignored the warning.
‘I left it because I was taking drugs,’ she admitted.
The next day, however, she could no longer lift her arm – and was airlifted to hospital in critical condition.
‘I woke up two months later. I’d been in an induced coma. I’d had two massive stroke and seven small ones,’ she revealed.
Doctors told her she had endocarditis, a potentially fatal infection of the heart’s inner lining, which had led to nine strokes. She remained in hospital for another two months recovering.
Now, Caroline is completely sober – and says the near-death experience has changed her life forever
She still faces serious mobility issues – she can walk only five steps unaided – and is unable to work due to her health, but she is full of gratitude for her second chance
Now, Caroline is completely sober – and says the near-death experience has changed her life forever.
She still faces serious mobility issues – she can walk only five steps unaided – and is unable to work due to her health, but she is full of gratitude for her second chance.
‘I can walk about five steps,’ she said.
‘Why the hell did I let it get to this point? I’m alive. I’ve got my kids back in my life. I wake up now and I don’t feel poorly. I wake up on top of the world.
‘My mum is so proud. I wake up and smell the flowers. Before I just wanted drugs – that’s no life. There’s light at the end of tunnel.’
Caroline has since reconnected with her children, enjoyed holidays with her mum, and now wants to use her story to help others struggling with addiction.
