Working as a bartender in the cocktail bar of a cruise ship proved too much of a temptation for Matthew Bristal( the name Matthew Bristal is fictitious, to respect the anonymity of the real person, all other details are correct. ) of Solihull who is paying a heavy price for those drinks being alcoholic.
Matthew joined the crew aged 22 to see the world but for the two years that was a crew member he was drinking wine and taking full advantage of the bar’s generous opening hours. He didn’t heed the warnings of those who knew that even in off-duty moments on board ship there is often little to do but sit drinking in the bar. On days when he was on afternoon or evening duty the bar was still open during his off-duty mornings.
Any port in a storm ?
Once back on dry land Matthew’s life was anything but dry and his habit of drinking wine throughout the day not only continued but he also started to drink port and brandy.
Such is the damage caused by the alcohol abuse over the next 8 years that Matthew is determined to do everything to stop others falling into similar bad ways and he’s backing a Government drive to provide clear messages for parents and teenagers on the health effects and risks of young people drinking alcohol.
Matthew will be adding his first-hand experiences and views to influence the Government’s draft guidance that is now under a 12-week consultation by calling upon parents, young people and carers to give their views online at http://www.dcsf.gov.uk/consultations
Chronic liver failure is not the only problem facing Matthew; he has developed a condition called Portal Hypertension which causes the blood that should be passing through the liver to be re-directed into small veins lining the oesophagus (gullet).
Here surges of blood force veins to swell like balloons (also called varices). When they burst Matthew almost died after he vomited up blood, bile and phlegm and it required emergency surgery to save him.
Although the surgery, via an endoscopy, treated each of the varices by cutting off their blood supply, the technique only dealt with the varices that were present at the time of surgery. The possibility of more varices appearing is a strong one and he has been told that he may not survive a second bleed. Just one more alcoholic drink would almost certainly tip the balance.
Matthew’s own GP and Dr Andrew Holt, a Consultant Physician and Transplant Hepatologist from the Liver Unit at University Hospital Birmingham are continuously monitoring his enlarged liver and other conditions for any tell-tale signs of deterioration and any action that may be needed. Moral support comes from Aquarius (the drugs & alcohol addiction charity), from Matthew’s family and from his girlfriend as he is willing to speak out about his desires not only for his own future but also for the future of others who could head down the same road.
"I just want to be able to earn a living, travel the world and have a happy life with my girlfriend, but I can no longer work as the sort of physical strain involved in my contracting work could easily spark another bleed.
"I wouldn’t want anybody else to end up in the same situation as me, I’m lucky to have made it beyond 30 but from the kids I see drinking before they’re 18-yrs-old I realise that, unless they stop, some of them will be taking my place in Andrew’s clinic before they’re beyond their teens. If I can help to dissuade them, I will.
"Better still that youngsters, too immature to really comprehend the dangers of alcohol, don’t start until they’re old enough to want to plan a future life. Parents who allow their children to experience alcohol should take a very serious look at their actions and ask themselves if there are any other addictive poisons or toxic chemicals that they’d like to feed them."
The harsh reality is that by the age of 15 many young people will have already consumed alcohol, often drinking weekly. Statistics show that: 16% of 11 – 14-year-olds across the region said, in an Ofsted survey, they have been drunk once or twice in their lives. Figures vary little across the West Midlands’ counties participating in the survey, with Shropshire highest at 19%, Solihull at 18%, Staffordshire at 17%, while Birmingham records the lowest figure of 14%. (source: Ofsted Tell Us3 survey 2008).
Across the West Midlands region alone, almost 1,000 under-18s are admitted to hospital each year due to alcohol-specific conditions, 150 of those are in Birmingham and a further 40 in Solihull.
Matthew continued: "During visits to the hospital I’ve seen fellow addicts who look 70 and I’m shocked when I hear their date of birth confirmed – and they’re not much older than me – yet they can’t even tell you the day, month or year. Like me, their condition and the side-effects of the medication mean that their skin is thin and their blood is thin – so a small puncture can produce heavy bleeding and takes an age to heal. It’s not just the patient who suffers, the strain on my parents is colossal so they need all the professional help, guidance and counselling that is available to them in order to cope with my self-administered illness.
"My next visit to the hospital is yet another endoscopy and, in my condition, the thought of the uncomfortable and excruciatingly painful process of purging my insides, ready for the endoscope, weighs heavily on my mind. Although I haven’t touched alcohol for 16 months, ironically the spray that will be used to numb my throat is alcohol-based and even that is a worry."
Department for Children, Schools and Families