A 28-year-old woman who was told by doctors her alcohol dependency would kill her is running a half marathon three years after recovering.
Holly Dyson, 28, from Southport, is taking on the London Landmarks Half Marathon this Sunday to raise money for Alcohol Change UK, an alcohol harm charity.
Holly began binge-drinking at university, where she would consume two litres of gin a day and often started the day with a pint.
Holly’s dependency on alcohol escalated rapidly in her mid-20s and she turned from drinking prosecco with her family in the evenings to experiencing physical withdrawals if she went without a drink.
She said: “If I was going out, I’d have to take a bottle of wine and I would put it into three smaller bottles so I could hide them in a bag and I was just living in fear every single day.”
Eventually, Holly developed liver disease as a result of her drinking and was hospitalised numerous times. On one occasion, she became severely ill and returned to hospital, where she was told her drinking would kill her.
She said: “I’d been vomiting blood and all sorts, and they said to me there, you are going to die in six months if you carry on like this.
“I truly, wholeheartedly was going to die. I was told I was going to die. I believed it and I had no hope.
“But even that didn’t stop me. It upset me but I didn’t care. I’d kind of accepted the fact I was going to die because I can’t stop this.”
Holly eventually found a way to beat her struggles, and now finds purpose as a support worker for Change Grow Live, leading walking groups and using her experience to break stigmas.
She said: “I was a young girl when I got trapped in that cycle and I think stereotypes can be a barrier to people seeking and getting help.
“Equally, I don’t think alcohol addiction is spoken about enough. I think there’s so much stigma and stereotypes attached to it and the stigma’s awful.”
Holly is keen to show others that recovery is possible, and to use Sunday’s event to illustrate her journey from lying in bed drinking all day to recovering her full fitness.
To sponsor Holly and the Alcohol Change UK team, visit: justgiving.com/campaign/alcoholchangeuklandmarkshalf2026
