A builder who was given just months to live after a 15 year battle with alcoholism has turned his life around - and has now been in recovery for four and a half years.
Chris Rees used to drink up to 400 units of alcohol each week, the equivalent of five and a half bottles of wine every night, and at one point was living on the streets.
Now he has completely turned his life around by ditching the booze, getting married and even running a 50 mile ultra marathon earlier this year.
Mr Rees, a former pub landlord from Llannor, Wales, has come a long way since the dark days of his alcoholism. At his worst, Mr Rees weighed just six stone and was in and out of hospital - downing pints of lager each time he was discharged.
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He lost his home and, unable to stay with his parents because of his drinking, found himself couch surfing at friends' houses or sleeping rough in boat yards where he'd drink himself into an alcoholic slumber.
As a result of his illness he developed blood cancer and pancreatitis and was on 80 different prescription drugs including the strong pain killers morphine and Tramadol.
He also has to inject daily doses of insulin to control his type 1 diabetes. The father-of-one said: "I was a raging alcoholic for 15 years and it has really taken its toll.
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"In the end, the doctors said that if I drank another alcoholic drink I would die a painful, horrible death and I just thought, 'I'm not doing this anymore.'"
Now Mr Rees said he's feeling 'fitter and healthier' than ever. In June, he took part in the Pen Llyn Ultra Marathon, a 24-hour, 50-mile race around the peninsula in Gwynedd.
He's also set up a Facebook group for recovering alcoholics and drug addicts called Sober Ninjas, which he says has helped more than 300 people on their own paths to recovery.
Mr Rees is also lined up to appear as a contestant on Tŷ am Ddim, a new Welsh TV programme where two strangers team up to buy houses at auction before refurbishing them for six months and reselling them for profit.
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Mr Rees, 45, said: "I thought this would be a new challenge that I could get my teeth into. I'm a builder by trade, so I have the experience.
"I saw the advert which said the producers were looking for someone who would work hard renovating a property for six months and thought 'this is right up my alley'."
Tŷ am Ddim starts on S4C on 31 October at 8pm and its sister programme The Great House Giveaway will be on Channel 4 next year.
Featured Image Credit: Daily Post WalesTopics: Entertainment, TV and Film, Addiction, Wales