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Incredible transformation of ice addict mother who gave up $1000-a-week habit

A Perth mother has spoken out about how she broke a $1000 a week ice addiction that spanned eight years and tore her family apart.

At the height of her addiction, Dee-anne Allender would use the drug five times a day.

In the end it would take the prospect of losing her children to break the cycle.

“There was that time I was at the train station, I was screaming at my dad over the phone. I just thought, you should just end your life by jumping in front of that train... make it easier for everybody,” she told the Daily Mail.

“I also had a near-death experience when I didn’t weigh my drugs and I lost all balance and hearing and collapsed.

Dee-ann Allender's transformation was one prompted by the threat of losing her children.
Dee-ann Allender's transformation was one prompted by the threat of losing her children.

“When I went to the clinic, the doctor said ‘that was a mini-stroke’. I couldn’t walk or talk. I had to crawl into the shower and sit there with my clothes on for hours.”

Diagnosed with dyslexia at eight years old, a troubled schooling would eventually filter into Ms Allender’s personal life, prompting her to leave home at 15 and move in with friends.

“I thought I must have been stupid. My brother and sister are quite successful. My parents were successful... and then there was me,” she said, revealing that her stepfather was also a former police minister.

Within a couple of years marijuana turned into amphetamines and so started an addiction that would consume much of her young life.

Sent to jail for a year after attempting to manufacture amphetamines, the threat of having her children taken away from her finally provided some clarity for the Perth mum.

“There's nothing worse than your own children visiting you in prison, and then you realise the damage you've caused... I was putting drugs before them.”

The mother-of-four is now using her own experiences to help educate others. Source: Supplied
The mother-of-four is now using her own experiences to help educate others. Source: Supplied

During a nine-month stint in rehab, Ms Allender would go onto meet her husband, only to be left heartbroken when he died of a heroin overdose in 2015.

Fast-forward to 2017 and the proud mother-of-four and grandmother-of-one is a receptionist at Fresh Start drug rehab clinic, using her own trauma to help others avoid a similar path.

Remarried and living a “beautifully normal life”, the 40-year-old admitted that some wounds were still yet to heal.

While her mother and stepfather are yet to completely forgive her, the Perth mum said her father had been a constant support. Source: Supplied
While her mother and stepfather are yet to completely forgive her, the Perth mum said her father had been a constant support. Source: Supplied

“My mum and stepfather have not been so forgiving,” she added.

“I don't blame them, when you let them down so many times, they won't trust you. I known it's going to take a long time until I earn their trust again."

Newsbreak – March 29