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​Dad Gives Up Alcohol After Showing Wife Drunken Train Stunt

​Dad Gives Up Alcohol After Showing Wife Drunken Train Stunt

He has since co-founded a campaign called One Year No Beer to encourage others to do the same

Jess Hardiman

Jess Hardiman

A dad has opened up about his decision to give up alcohol - prompted by a drunken stunt that could have all too easily been fatal - and his decision to co-found a campaign called One Year No Beer to encourage others to do the same.

Oil broker Ruari Fairbairns had videoed himself travelling home after six-hour boozy business lunch in London, sticking his head out of the window and filming his mouth wobbling as it caught the wind from the train's high speed.

Ruari told the Sunday Mail: "Lots of people take ridiculous risks and do crazy things because of alcohol.

"That day I'd had a long lunch which started at noon and finished at 6pm. I was absolutely smashed.

"The train was packed, so I pushed down the window and for some bizarre reason decided to film myself hanging out.

"I hate to think what could have happened if another train had been coming. Just a few months later I heard about a guy being decapitated after leaning out the window of a train."

Ruari's drunken stunt on the train could have killed him if another train had passed.
One Year No Beer

While Ruiari, 38, made it home alive, things could have been very different if another train had passed at the wrong moment.

However, when he did eventually walk through the front door, wife Jen was unable to see the funny side of his inebriated stunt - in fact, it proved to be her breaking point.

Former model Jen, 40, decided that she'd had enough of her husband's boozy antics, which had become a huge issue in their relationship.

Jen bought a one-way ticket to her native Sweden, taking their young daughter with her.

"One day I decided I'd had enough," she said.

"Ruari had been out with clients and I was at home, a new mum, looking after our eldest daughter, who was just a baby.

"He came in at 5am and I was awake, struggling to breastfeed. He took himself off to our spare room, telling me he had to get some sleep before work. I decided this was not what I had signed up for."

Jen, who gave up boozer herself two years ago, said her drastic measures forced Ruari to do some 'serious soul-searching'.

"He signed up for an anger management course to try to better understand the friction in our relationship," she said.

"It was then he realised the role alcohol played."

Ruari took what was initially a break from alcohol, and realised he became 'faster, sharper and better' at his job, while also finding 'healthier ways' to bond with people.

Eventually, Jen and their daughter came home.

Ruari and wife Jen.
One Year No Booze

Determined to help his sobriety become more than just happy ending for his family, Ruari then went on to co-found a campaign called One Year No Beer with friend Andy Ramage.

Members of One Year No Beer can sign up for 28, 90 or 365-day challenges, receiving daily emails and video support along the way.

Ruari said: "I became a better husband, better at work and a better dad.

"I thought, how can I bottle this and give it to other people? So that's what we've done through One Year No Beer."

Jen added: "Our members share with us their amazing stories of how their lives have been transformed since becoming part of One Year No Beer.

"They tell us how giving up alcohol has helped them lose weight, saved their relationships and even saved their lives.

"One couple went through five rounds of IVF, then, after giving up alcohol, became pregnant naturally."

Now married for 10 years and parents to six-year-old Tillie and four-year-old Robin, Ruari and Jen are adamant that giving up the booze has saved their relationship.

Featured Image Credit: One Year No Beer

Topics: UK News, News, Alcohol