The needle and the damage done

THE allure of drugs drove Kerryn Redpath to the brink of death on more than one occasion.
Some dire choices as a teenager put the Narre Warren South resident on a path of destruction, which eventually led to an addiction to heroin.
Little did she know that what she thought was all “a bit of fun” would land her in The Alfred hospital, with doctors giving her less than two hours to live.
A single dose of medication daily is now a constant reminder to the 53-year-old just how lucky she was to miraculously survive both heart and kidney failure – a result of complications from a drug-related disease, Hepatitis B.
Having survived two close encounters with death and several overdoses, Kerryn later miraculously gave birth to three children, something doctors said would not be possible.
In the midst of her struggles, Kerryn found a faith in God and embarked on a spiritual journey which changed the direction of her life forever.
She has now written a book, to be launched in July, detailing her journey in a bid to prevent young people from going down the same path as she did.
“If just one person and one family doesn’t have to go through what my family and I did, then the book will be worth it,” Kerryn said.
“Making all of this public is not easy for me, because I’m not proud of my past, but I am hoping to reach people.”
Kerryn said she had a happy and loving start to life. She attended Moorabbin High School and transferred to St Leonard’s, in Brighton, in Year 10.
“I was happy, healthy and quite athletic,” she said. “I had many good friends and spent much of my spare time horse riding and water skiing.”
Like many teenagers, she was introduced to the party scene during high school. She said it was during this time that she started to take risks, drank alcohol, tried cigarettes and smoked marijuana for the first time when she was 18.
At the age of 19, she flew to Kathmandu, Nepal, with a friend and intended to travel through Asia for six to eight months. But she contracted a severe dose of typhoid and nearly died, spending 10 weeks in Fairfield Infectious Diseases Hospital.
“After my recovery, the partying continued and I began to drift deeper into the drug scene,” she said.
“By this time, I was smoking dope daily and had begun to experiment with other drugs.”
She tried speed, hallucinogenic drugs and eventually heroin.
“I was young and naive and thought I was just having a bit of fun,” she said.
“Big mistake … I was really playing with fire.”
Surrounded by people all into the drug scene, including her boyfriend at the time, Kerryn was doing heroin at least three times a week.
“I thought all along I had it under control … I didn’t think I had a habit,” she said. “But after a couple of days I would start to crave it.”
For a period in her life, Kerryn experienced numerous overdoses, drug and alcohol-fuelled fights and was even robbed by people she knew through drugs.
One night she spent about 40 minutes trying to resuscitate her boyfriend after he had overdosed on a cocktail of alcohol and heroin.
“It was the most terrifying night of my life,” she said.
But she said even this was not enough of a wake-up call.
“The lure of drugs is a powerful one,” she said.
“I guess part of it is just that you become addicted to living life in an altered state of mind.
“In the case of heroin, I have heard that it was given that name because it makes you feel a bit like a hero.
“Other than that it gives your body an all over warm and totally relaxed feeling and when you stop using, your body begins to physically crave that feeling.”
She said however, while these feelings may make heroin sound worth trying, it is definitely not.
“Getting involved in heroin almost always ends in disaster,” she said.
“We need only to look at the number of Australians who are trapped on the methadone cycle, desperately trying to overcome their addiction, not to mention all of the families grieving the loss of a loved one to drugs of any kind.”
At the age of 25, Kerryn was diagnosed with Hepatitis B.
Six months after the diagnosis, she became gravely ill and was referred to a specialist at The Alfred hospital.
“The specialist quickly diagnosed heart and kidney failure and at that point gave me less than two hours to live,” she said.
Kerryn unbelievably survived and on her fourth day in hospital had an angiogram.
“When the results came back they told my family no-one could possibly survive with the damage I had to my body, and my family were told to pray.” she said.
“I laid in the coronary ward waiting to die. “My older brother, who was a Christian called on all the believers he knew and the prayers began.”
A few days later, new scan results showed an amazing turn-around. “The specialists couldn’t believe it, they said it was like I had a new heart,” she said.
While her heart had miraculously returned to normal, Kerryn’s kidneys were still severely damaged and she was not completely out of danger. Kerryn spent five months in hospital.
“During this time I had multiple grand mal seizures, one leaving me in a coma for three days,” she said.
“I also had two code blues, where I was facing imminent death.”
She eventually left with a relatively strong heart and 40 per cent function in both kidneys.
Upon returning home, Kerryn was still surrounded by friends using drugs and was at one time tempted to use heroin again.
“I begged a friend to give me some one night and he ended up leaving some on a shelf for me,” she said.
“I walked past it (heroin) 10 or 20 times … there I was, torn between the desire to feel the rush in my veins and the fear of what could go wrong.”
Kerryn overcame the desire and never touched heroin again.
After moving back in with her boyfriend, Kerryn said she became clucky and dreamed of being a mother.
She soon fell pregnant unintentionally, but upon doctor’s recommendations had an abortion.
Ten months later she fell pregnant again, but this time decided to go ahead with the pregnancy, regardless of the risks.
At 34 weeks Kerryn’s kidney failed and she had to have an emergency caesarean. Her first son Kyle was born that day.
After the birth of Kyle, Kerryn was first introduced to Christianity when her brother’s pastor Brian McKelvie took her along to a ‘miracle meeting’ at the Dandenong Hall.
“While I was there a female pastor shared her story of how she had kidney and heart failure and how God had healed her,” she said.
“I was blown away, I felt that someone was pointing straight at me.”
She said that day, for the first time, she felt the touch of God.
Two years later her second son, Stefan, was born and three years after that her daughter, Phoebe, both without suffering further kidney failure.
“I have been so blessed,” she said. “I had caused my illness because of my own stupidity and I know that there are so many people who have never done such things to themselves and still can’t have children.”
For the past 25 years Kerryn has been a Christian, and believes that although life still has its trials, her faith in Christ has given her life hope and a purpose.
For about 18 years she has attended The Winepress Church in Berwick.
“Being a part of this awesome Christian family has given me the opportunity to grow spiritually and heal emotionally and has blessed my life immeasurably,” she said.
Her faith was one of the factors that drove her to write her book this year.
Her hope is that readers may find the same hope that she found in God.
But her foremost aim for writing her book ‘Out of the Darkness’ is to help prevent others going down the same path.
“I hope to reach young people before they reach the age where they are faced with the drug culture,” she said.
“I know you can’t just say to them don’t do it, but what I want to say is this is what can go wrong.”
Kerryn will launch her book at The Old Cheese Factory, Berwick, on Friday 16 July at 7pm.
For details and to RSVP visit www.kerryn-redpath.net