Trauma and Addiction: A firefighter's story of transformation and survival

Welcome back to episode 4 of the new season and thanks for joining us once again. The podcast continues to grow week on week and I am genuinely delighted that many of you out there are feeling the better of listening to real stories from real people, all of whom have shown incredible resilience to overcome huge obstacles in their lives. Whether that is a self inflicted physical challenge or a life event forced upon them such as trauma, abuse, injury and ill health. Each time I sit down with my guests I learn so much about my own life and hope you do too. As always, this is a self supported podcast which aims to provide a platform for those to share their story and for you, the listener to enjoy and learn from. The biggest way you can help is by following the Remember Resilience page on your favourite podcast platform, leaving a 5 star review and also follow the Instagram page where you can find out more from each guest. Now onto todays episode, Paul Donnelly is a fire fighter based in Central Scotland. It is accurate to say that Paul has overcame several obstacles in his life, from dealing with the deaths of his grandparents at a young age, the murder of his uncle, his battles with his own addictions and the every day trauma which a firefighter is forced to face....life has not been easy. However Paul has found the resilience and courage to win these battles, through various methods which we explore Paul has used the pain of his past to power his future. Not content with turning his own life around....he also founded and runs the Max Kolbe group, a not for profit group who organise and encourage the use of nature to aid and assist those who are recovering from addictions and mental health problem. A true figure for good in his local community, Paul and his group have raised thousands of pounds and incredible awareness highlighting the issues which many people unfortunately face and help those to rewrite their futures.