Man spent ‘well over £1 million’ on cocaine addiction that saw him sacked from own company
Warning: This article contains discussion of drug addiction which some readers may find distressing.
A man who snorted 7g of cocaine a day at the nadir of his addiction was sacked from the £20m per year company he owned.
Zachary Oliver, 36, first took cocaine when he was just 15 years old and soon spiralled into an addiction that eventually ended up costing him £250,000 in just a single year.
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Zachary, from Leighton Buzzard, Bedfordshire, began week-long drug binges when he was in his late teens as he wanted to be 'the life and soul of the party', even if it meant missing days at work.
He did manage to get himself sober and started his own medical recruitment business, which he claims was making £20m a year with a net profit of £1.4m.
By the time he was 24, Zachary had become 'very, very successful and very' wealthy.'
However, the success saw a return of familiar demons, and he was no longer a kid with nothing to lose. This time, everything was on the line.
In 2014, he was sacked by the company he owned a third of.
"My whole world fell apart at that point. That was the hardest part of all of it," Zachary said.
"I'd built all of my worth into my success and the people that worked for me and to have all of that taken from me it was very hard - it was a horrible time, I was very suicidal after that."
Zachary's addiction got even worse: 'It could be as much as 7g per day'
The father-of-one kept his shares in the company for another two years but eventually sold them for £180,000, the majority of which was spent on cocaine.
"Then it [my drug use] got really bad, I was probably awake for up to seven days at a time. I would sleep for two days, eat for a day and then get back on it again.
"I was completely disconnected from everything and everyone at that point - I was really, really lost.
Zachary says taking cocaine was no longer about socialising or trying to impress people on the weekend, but simply what he did when he wasn't sleeping.
He said: "Whatever day I was awake and conscious I would be using and if I was awake for too long then I would eventually fall asleep for two days and then follow that kind of cycle.
"I was using a minimum of 3g of cocaine per day, but it could be as much as 7g per day.
"I worked out that one year I spent £250,000, I could have a done a lot with that money.
"I spent well over £1million during the entirety of my addiction."
What made Zachary finally get sober
Zachary may have lost his business and spent a whole lot of money when in the throes of his addiction, but it was letting his son down by failing to take him to a gymnastics competition after staying up all night taking dugs after the child had gone to bed that finally spurned him on to get clean.
"I woke-up and I was such a mess I had to not take him to school, ignore everyone's calls, and tell my son that he was not going to be able to go," he said.
"The next day, he came home without his medal, distraught in tears - asking why he didn't get his medal when he worked so hard.
"It was the pain I think, I'd already lost so much by that point.
He continued: "I didn't care about myself and how much I'd hurt me, but to cause my son that much pain - it felt like something snapped inside me in that moment.
"I was like 'either I'm going to kill myself, or I'm going to find a new way to live'. The only reason I stayed alive really was because of my son."
Zachary has now been sober for seven years and is a recovery coach who helps other people to fight their addictions.
His son is now 14 and they talk openly about his father's struggles.
"He knows everything - he's very aware of the fact that if he hadn't been alive then I wouldn't have been here," Zachary added.
"He's the thing that saved me.
"We have a beautiful relationship - he's my best friend."
If you want friendly, confidential advice about drugs, you can talk to FRANK. You can call 0300 123 6600, text 82111 or contact through their website 24/7, or livechat from 2pm-6pm any day of the week.
Daniel Murphy