Life Stories
John Edwards
Monday 31st March 2008
John Edwards is a:
- ex-drug addict
- alcoholic
- gambler
- beggar
- thief
John Edwards was born in Dublin in 1954. "My father was a businessman, and was one of the 20 highest paid men in the Republic of Ireland," he said. "He was very successful in the motor industry. But even though he had planned a good future for me, I ended up starting to do drugs when I was about 12 years old.
I had a bad stutter and my self-esteem was very low and I just began by taking a couple of Valium tablets, but 20 years later, I ended up living on the streets of London, taking 150 Valium a day." Becoming an alcoholic and addicted to heroin, John was so bad he even missed his dad's funeral.
Going back to Ireland, some Christians shared the love of Jesus with John and at a 1987 dinner meeting of FGBMFI in Dublin he had a "Damascus Road" experience which turned his life around... Eventually John became part of Teen Challenge - helping others addicted to drugs. John has since founded rehabilitation centres in Scotland and most recently Bradford.
He loves to walk and has completed marathons - his book "Walking Free" is a fitting title for John and his amazing life...
