'Sobriety is my superpower at Christmas', says recovering addict

From the age of 18, an addiction to alcohol and drugs had a grip of Eugene Roddy's life making special occasions, like Christmas, pass in a hazy blur.

"For years, even as a big family man, I couldn't wait to get out of my mum's house on Christmas Day just to go off and get drugs with people who didn't care about me," he said.

Mr Roddy said he was hospitalised several times before the age of 23 because of alcohol and drug abuse, including one incident that left him needing brain surgery.

Preparing to celebrate his third Christmas substance-free, the 33-year-old from Londonderry said the festive season is now unrecognisable from what it used to look like for him.

"Looking back, the word I would use is 'insanity'," he told BBC Radio Foyle's North West Today programme.

"Because of the addiction, you would just have your Christmas dinner and leave... I'd be thinking how quick can I eat that roastie and get out the door."

Sobriety made him see "how dark that was", he explained.

"There's something magical about genuine laughter, not the blurred, half-remembered nights that used to define Christmas for me."

He reached out for help for the first time in 2020 but said "the drink and cocaine continued".

He said he has been sober since 2023.

Mr Roddy is now a comedian, preparing for his first stand-up tour performing in venues across the UK from February.

He credits his parents for "never giving up on him" and his fiancée Kerry's support in turning his life around.

Mr Roddy said for him, a big part of navigating sobriety at Christmas is having firm boundaries.

"I do go out to socialise, but it has to be with what I feel comfortable with.

"If I see behaviours from others that remind me of what I was like in addiction, I'll get a taxi and go straight home.

"If I go out at 6pm, and feel like going home at 8pm, I do it.

"If you were selfish in addiction, why not be selfish in recovery?"

Mr Roddy, who goes by the stage name of Max Roddy, said he wants to tell his story, so others know there is hope.

"I know people might think they have no way out," he told the programme.

"But if you are alive, then you have a chance.

"Go to someone you trust and get help.

He said embarking on a UK and Ireland comedy tour is something he could not have him imagined while he was using.

"Sometimes I feel regret about the years I lost, but I am only 33. Ricky Gervais only picked up a microphone later in life so it's all ahead of me," he said.

"Sobriety is a superpower... there's such clarity now.

"It was like I was colourblind before and now I can see."

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