Gary McCafferty’s Story

“As a drug addict, I nearly killed a man. Now, I help people walk away from drugs.”

I was brought up in a family where both my parents were addicts – my mum to drugs, my dad to alcohol. My mum had been absent for most of my childhood, only reappearing when I was 12, and eventually I moved in with her. I quickly found out that she, and my stepdad, were drug dealers; but I didn’t find this shocking, drugs were everywhere in Dundee. 
 
Experimenting with substances was the norm among my friends, I won’t lie, that world appealed to me. For a while I lived two parallel lives – one with a circle of friends that did drugs and were finding themselves in and out of prison, and the other with a full-time job, a regular income, and no trouble with the Police.

But that came to a head when heroin exploded in Dundee. At first, I held off from trying it, but it seemed like everyone was and I thought I was missing out. I didn’t even know I was addicted until one day I woke up with a cold and missed work. I told my younger brother I was sick, and he said, ‘you’re not, you have a heroin habit’.

“I ended up losing everything. My job, my car, my girlfriend. I was angry at everyone, stealing from people, hurting people. ”

My life felt like it was spinning out of control. I look back now and don’t recognise the person I became. I didn’t care about myself, and I didn’t care about anyone else.

Meeting Church Army:

The first time I met Kerry, from Church Army, was on Christmas Eve. He saw me on the streets and asked if I had anything to eat. He came round to the place I was living in with food, and invited me to join the recovery group, Pirate Monks. 

Kerry, and other Christians in Dundee, were showing me something different, and treating me in a way I hadn’t experienced in a long time. They listened to me and told me God has a plan for my life.  

“I totally laughed at the idea of God, and thought I was beyond saving. I was a thief, a violent drug addict, angry, homeless, and didn’t care if I lived or died.”

But I got curious about God and started becoming a regular attendee at Pirate Monks, talking with others like me. I could feel the pull towards God, but I couldn’t escape my addiction. Even with the best intentions I’d fall back into old habits and would do something stupid.  
 
I remember the first time I felt God. I was at a weekend away with the Pirate Monks and two of the leaders prayed for me. I suddenly felt calm, loved, and accepted. A feeling I hadn’t felt since my mum died. I knew I wasn’t alone, and that this was God.

But days afterwards, I was back on the drugs, arguing with a friend, and in a fit of blind rage I picked up a knife and stabbed him. I almost killed a guy over nothing. It was the worst thing that I’d ever done in my life, and it forced me to realise I had to change. 
 
During my seven-and-a-half-year sentence, Kerry from Church Army kept in touch with me. It was in one of his letters, that I came to realise the only way any of this was going to change, was if I gave my whole life to Jesus.

“The journey didn’t suddenly get easier, but I felt I had a strength I hadn’t had before.”

Drug Free:

I became completely drug free on the 26^th June 2020, and have remained drug free since! 
 
When I was transferred to HMP Castle Huntly (an open prison), I was employed as a harm reduction peer mentor. I started training people in open and closed prison settings on how to administer Naloxone, a reversal drug to prevent death from opiate overdose.  

I was the first prisoner to go from an open prison to a closed prison as an employee to help others on their recovery journey. One of my most impactful experiences was working in Castle Huntly and having the prison governor come to me and say, ‘Gary, I don’t know how to use Naloxone. Could you train me with that?’  

I’m in a setting where he’s the boss, but then he’s coming to me and flipping that role over and saying, ‘Gary, I’m going to put you in charge for 10 minutes here. You show me what to do’. This showed me how far I’ve come as a person from the addict I was four years ago, to the person that I am sitting here today.  

I believe everyone has recovery inside them, and I want to help as many people as possible overcome their addictions.