Princess of Wales' praise to mum who cheated death and overcame alcohol addiction

The Princess of Wales today praised a brave mum recovering from alcohol addiction who cheated death. Kate visited Southend, Essex, to hear moving stories from those helped by a charity, including from Steph Sampson – saying her family “must be super proud”. The 45-year-old woman told the Royal about a heartbreaking letter penned by her daughter in which she pleaded for her to get help. Kate congratulated Ms Sampson, now six-and-half months sober and a peer mentor, for her hard work. The princess – who is patron of The Forward Trust charity – made the visit to mark Addiction Awareness Week. She went to Garon Park in Southend, Essex, where the charity hosts weekly gardening sessions for recovering addicts. Kate was shown around a cricket ground, which has a wellbeing walk and gardening area where people on the Forward Trust's Southend Treatment and Recovery Service (STARS) can go to walk and talk, or try their hand at gardening. After meeting Kate, mum-of-two Ms Sampson revealed she stopped breathing when she suffered a seizure in 2019. In an interview with the Mirror, she recalled the incident: “My ex-husband had to do CPR, I had stopped breathing. So, I went to bed as normal, and I woke up on the floor surrounded by four paramedics. "And, again, my daughter who was probably 14 at the time, was telling her dad how to do CPR because I’d stopped breathing.” She added: “Someone is definitely looking out for me on this journey, I tell you.” Ms Sampson also told how her daughter, now 21, once wrote her a letter pleading with her to get help. Ms Sampson, who also has an 18-year-old son, said: “I was what you call a functioning alcoholic, I was still doing the dinners, washing, housework, all of that. “I was, I say, fortunate enough that I didn’t have to go to work but, in a way, it was quite then easy to just stay at home and drink. And so my daughter… knew I was lying about it and... was begging me to stop. She wrote me a letter once, five pages, just ‘please mum’. I was ill so didn’t really care, to be honest.” Ms Sampson, from Leigh-on-Sea, Essex, added: “I just remember her standing there crying and I can remember kind of looking through her. And, if I’m completely honest, probably thinking, can you go away now so I can have a drink? Horrible, but it’s true.” Ms Sampson explained the letter said: “Just please, we all care so much about you, we’re all here, please get some help.” In 2022, Ms Sampson took the kids on holiday to Tenerife and went cold turkey – 48 hours into the trip she had another seizure. “It breaks my heart what they’ve gone through… but I can’t change it,” Ms Sampson explained. She added: “I wasn’t well and that’s the one thing I don’t feel so bad about because I wasn’t well, it’s an illness.” Last year, she went to her GP and was referred to STARS after asking for help. Ms Sampson went into detox in March this year, followed by eight weeks at Forward Trust’s SHARP [Self Help Addiction Recovery Programme] rehab in Wickford, Essex. She praised STARS, calling it "life-saving". She said: "They saved my life. The programme, the detox, the rehab, everything they’ve set up for me.” Last month she got a birthday card from her daughter who said she was so proud of her mum. Ms Sampson said: “I never would have thought I’d have been this happily sober. It’s not hard for me to stay sober, there’s no going back. I’m 100% committed to never having that one drink again.” Looking to the future, she said: “If I get a job then great, if not I will continue volunteering. I just want to help people. I understand it, I get it. It’s hard work, I want to support them through it. And as many people as I can, I will.” To find out more about The Big Addiction Conversation, please visit: https://takingactiononaddiction.org.uk/