Through a glass brightly - Nick Charles

Nick Charles had a drink with his father in a pub when he was seventeen. It changed his life. He became an alcoholic, drinking so heavily that he lost his job, his wife and family, and then his home. Even when he found himself living rough, he didn't mind, as long as he could scrape together enough money for some cheap alcohol - whether it be aftershave, hairspray or meths. For years he drank as heavily as his body would allow, not eating for months, sleeping in a cardboard box in the city of London. Every time he tried to quite drinking he experienced the terrifying hallucinations that accompany withdrawal. Many times he awoke in hospital with serious injuries, gnawed by rats in his sleep, near death. He tried to take his own life on one occasion and was nearly murdered on several others. Eventually he managed to get himself out of the trap of drinking and living rough. That in itself was a remarkable achievement. But Nick Charles went a step further. He decided to spend the rest of his life helping other alcoholics, founding the Chaucer Clinic, where over the years he has treated 8,000 people with a unique programme for alcoholics that has an astonishing success rate.;His clients range for the homeless street drinkers to star names in the entertainment industry. His services to alcoholics were recognised when he was awarded the MBE at Buckingham Palace. Shocking, violent yet inspirational, this is an extraordinary story of a man's battle with alcohol, and brings compassion and insight to an often misunderstood disease.