Wayne Lineker has previously spoken out about his battles with addiction, but a pneumonia infection left him feeling like he had been killed twice.
Wayne Lineker would be the first to say he’s walked the fine line between life and death in the height of his addictions – but a pneumonia infection left him feeling like he had reached the end.
Two hospital stays later, Wayne is finally on the road to recovery – but admits he is still struggling with daily life. Wayne recalls how he had felt a little unwell on returning to the UK from Dubai to visit his daughter. Thinking nothing of it, he boarded his flight home and felt fine – until he got back to his house.
Wayne woke up in severe pain in the middle of the night. I was unable to move at all. He claims that because my phone was on the other side of the bedroom, I had to slam out of bed in agony to call an ambulance.
She called her mother, who lives just a few blocks away, and I called my daughter in Dubai. I believed I was experiencing a heart attack. Soon afterward, Wayne’s ex and her boyfriend quickly arrived at the house to offer assistance, and they managed to assist him.
He was taken to the hospital with a chronic pneumonia diagnosis in the back of an ambulance. He claims that he spent four weeks in the hospital before they let him return, but he thought it was too soon.
“After three days at home, I had another really big attack – I was in a severe state,” he recalls. Another trip to the GP and Wayne found himself rushed again to hospital in an ambulance.
He says: “The doctor told my son I was in big danger and my blood pressure was ridiculously low. But they said, ‘We’re just going to tell your dad he’s ok. We’ll get an ambulance.”
It was another four weeks in hospital for Wayne, with him finally being able to leave on Boxing Day. “There were two times I nearly passed away – it was a real eye opener for me,” he says.
“I became worried about my life. Am I going to make it? … I lost so much weight, I lost 11 kilograms of weight because I was lying in bed for seven weeks. When I came out, I just looked awful. I couldn’t look in the mirror for weeks and that was just really scary,” he says. “I lost a lot of weight off my face as well, and all across my chest, and I looked very frail.”
Wayne believes he wouldn’t be here today if he hadn’t smoked six months earlier despite suffering a lot from pneumonia. Wayne, who is open about his battle with drug and alcohol addictions, admits that he used alcohol and drugs to manage his anxiety in his Ibiza villa.
“When I was in Ibiza, I was drinking heavily every day and taking drugs. I’d wake up and be so sad and anxious and tired that I just reached out again. There’s a little bar halfway from my villa to the beach club and I’d stop in there for a cheese and tomato toastie and a vodka red bull, just to get my energy levels back. The cycle would just continue day after day,” he says.
“I never felt revitalized or upbeat.” To recover from a hangover, you need two or three days. Then, if you start to feel fresh, you have a chance and establish a routine. But because I was so anxious, I never managed to get into that routine. I only turned on my phone once after having my vodka red bull because I was concerned about what I did last night or the messages my family sent me.
His family persuaded him that rehab was the only option available to him. Wayne finished a rehab stint in July with the help of his loved ones. He is now six months sober.
During his time in Ibiza, Wayne’s son, Freddie, 21, begged him for assistance. He shared the villa with me, so he witnessed it firsthand. He recognized my problem and could hear me awake at night. He came in and said, “Dad, we want you to get better,” and he was returning home to England.
It was difficult,” he said. When my son said, “Dad, we can’t have you picking the girls up from school anymore because you always have alcohol in your system.” I can’t see anything wrong with my daughter, but I could feel her worry and concern.
A family action plan was prompted by his eldest to help him in need. Without my family, I simply don’t believe I would have ended up in rehab. And rehab was by far the best choice I’ve ever had. He claims that he wouldn’t be here right now because of his addiction.
Wayne wants to start rehab facilities and help others who have gone through the same struggles as him, as well as focusing on his health.
“I’m beginning to work out daily.” I’m taking the right supplements for what my body needs, but I’m very slowly lifting weights. My immune system appears to be returning. Every morning, I practice Tai Chi. Every morning, I teach breathing exercises. I’m currently following that pattern and leaving the field. He claims that his run was successful.
Wayne wants to start rehab facilities all over the UK as a result of his entrepreneurial spirit. He says, “I just assumed that’s my destiny now to help people and speak in my own rehab facilities and sit down and tell people my life story.”
Will he make a comeback to Ibiza’s renowned beach club? You’ve got the music, he says. You have groups of guys and girls, and they are all attracted to you. You have the orange cups and the sunshine, he claims.
“My next chapter is about health, and I’ve realized there’s another side to life.” I want to improve. I want to strengthen. I want to appear more attractive. I hope I can win over people and say, “It’s fair play for him, actually, because he’s sorting himself out.” He has turned the situation around. Because I’m enjoying it and having a lot of advantages, I’ll keep going sober.”
Since he became sober, Wayne claims that his entire life has changed, including his energy, his family, and his outlook.
“My energy levels are now so low.” That’s something I can’t recall having previously experienced. I’m awake when I get out of bed. My current family understands me differently. They make me feel more connected to them, and I can tell you, they’re starting to care about me now. He claims that it is “so nice.”
Source: Mirror
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