Nikki Hayes has opened up on the struggle of rebuilding relationships and trust with family and loved ones after battling addiction. The Radio presenter and DJ has been candid about her alcohol addiction , which resulted in her becoming homeless and losing custody of her daughter Farrah. And speaking about the struggles women who are battling addiction with minimal support, Nikki revealed that being a mother has been her biggest motivation to stay sober. She described how, during the worst periods of her addiction, her
daughter was cared for by her father, something she now acknowledges was the right decision, though a heart-breaking one for her to make. “I was very lucky,” she told the Irish Independent, “Her dad stepped in and gave her a wonderful upbringing when things were going bad for me.” However, Nikki says that there are almost no facilities in Ireland where mothers can seek treatment while keeping their children, leading to many women not seeking help for fear they will lose custody of their children.
“You can’t really have both, If you want recovery, you often have to give up your children, and that’s something many women just can’t face”, she admitted. “That shouldn’t even be a question they have to ask. As a woman you get stigma, but as a mother it’s even worse. Instead of people seeing someone who is sick and needs help, they see a bad mother.” Now in recovery Nikki says knowing the hurt she has caused her daughter remains her biggest motivator, driving her
forwards, as she revealed: “I hurt that child, and I have to live with that,” she said. “I will never do that again.” “It’s completely different. It’s not defined by my career anymore. I know that I am successful in my recovery, which brings me great joy, but the main thing is I feel I’m successful as a mother, because I’m choosing recovery, and I’m choosing my daughter over everything else, and that’s the way it should be when you’re a mother.” Want to see
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Nikki Hayes, addiction recovery, alcohol addiction, homelessness, custody, Farrah, Irish Independent, women, stigma, motherhood, sobriety, Ireland