Booze horror: ‘I looked 9 months pregnant… but I was hours from death’

With a bloated stomach making her look nine months pregnant and bright yellow skin, Tammy Doyle was told the devastating truth by doctors – years of drinking had wreaked havoc on her liver and it was close to failing. If she’d arrived at hospital a day later, she wouldn’t have survived.

That was in July 2020 – but now Tammy is unrecognisable. She’s healthy and glowing and is excited about the future.

Mum Tammy, 40, who lives in east London, says, “I look at the picture of me in hospital and can’t believe how far I’ve come. It’s horrifying what alcohol can do. I was terrified that I was going to die and leave my daughter behind.

“I want others to know that going sober can transform your life – it’s dry January and I hope people will consider giving up for good, especially as the pandemic has seen a rise in people drinking.

“One day you’re the life and soul of the party, then suddenly you have a serious problem. It can happen to anyone.”

When she was just 11, Tammy would have alcopops in the park with friends. Then in her teens, she started drinking more as it gave her confidence.

“I was bullied for being shy,” she explains. “But after a drink, I could talk to anyone.”

Tammy left school at 16 with 10 GCSEs and started an admin job, but her drinking worsened.

She says, “It didn’t seem like a problem as everyone was drinking a lot. It didn’t affect my work either, as I could power through a hangover.”

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Tammy gave up alcohol when she found out she was pregnant at 21, with the boyfriend she’d been with for a year.

She says, “I loved being pregnant and gave up booze completely. For the first four years after my daughter was born, I’d drink wine once a week with friends.

“But when I split from her dad, it escalated. At the weekend, my mum would babysit while I went out, but soon I was out on weekdays, too. My hangovers were never that bad and I felt my drinking was under control.”

Then in her late 20s, Tammy was sexually assaulted on a night out and she started drinking more to block out the pain. She says, “I was angry all the time. Drink helped me forget.”

From 2010, Tammy admits that her alcohol consumption was out of control. In a day, she could polish off half a bottle of vodka, as well as wine and cider. She says, “I realised I had a problem and started going to an alcohol support group. I’d go sober for months at a time, but I always reverted back.”

Due to her drinking, her daughter lived with Tammy’s mum and stepfather a lot of the time. She says, “Mum begged me to get help for the sake of my daughter, but I couldn’t stop.”

In 2016, Tammy met a new partner at a house party. She says, “He worked nights so I could easily hide my drinking from him.

“I became a master of deceit.In the morning I’d put the bottles in the outside bin, hiding them under takeaway bags. I didn’t slur my words or stumble around.

“By 2018, my drinking was so bad that I’d wake up in the early hours with my heart racing, which only a small glass of wine could calm. I’d then go back to bed, but once awake, I’d have a drink every half an hour.”

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In February 2020, Tammy split from her partner and when the pandemic hit that March, she moved in with her mum and daughter and quit drinking.

But when restrictions eased and pubs reopened, Tammy slipped back into her old ways – with devastating consequences. She says, “I was so drunk one day, I started to hallucinate. It was then that I knew I needed – and wanted – help. I was at an all-time low, full of self-disgust and shame.

“I was placed into a residential rehab centre, but when I arrived I was so ill I could barely walk.”

It was then that doctors told her she was just a day away from death. Tammy says, “While I was there, my stomach started to swell – I looked nine months pregnant. The scary reality was that it was a sign that my liver was failing and I was hours from death. I was placed on a drip, but my liver started to bleed and I needed an operation to save my life. My family were told there was only a 30 per cent chance I’d make it. I’ll never forget the look of pain on my mum’s face – she was the only one allowed in to see me because of Covid.

“She took a photo of me and I smiled through the pain to pretend to my daughter that I wasn’t worried. But I was terrified.”

Tammy underwent a five-hour operation to stop several bleeds on her liver. She was in hospital for a month and, when she left to live with her mum, her stomach was still swollen from liver damage. She says, “I was told I could never drink again. Tests showed I’d need a liver transplant, but amazingly, it started to repair itself.”

And in September 2021, her liver function was close to normal. She says, “Doctors were stunned and I cried with happiness. I put my recovery down to eating a low-salt, low-sugar diet, no alcohol, exercising and losing a stone in weight.”

Tammy still needs to take six pills a day, though, and gets fatigued easily. She says, “My daughter is now 17 and lives with me. She’s doing amazingly at college and we’re building on our relationship.

“I go to alcohol support groups and I’m training as a peer mentor to help others know how good you can feel sober.

“I’ve also had very honest chats with my daughter about the dangers of alcohol, though at the moment she doesn’t drink.

“I’ve been given a second chance at life and feel so lucky. I won’t waste a second more.”

Expert: ‘By quitting booze, your life will be better than ever’

GP and trustee of the Alcohol Education Trust, Dr Lara Wear, says, “There are huge numbers of people drinking problematically and many of them are hiding it. The pandemic has wreaked havoc on our lives and, for some, the answer has seemed to be alcohol.

“If you want to cut back, the first thing to do is to really look at how much you’re drinking – keep a drink diary and aim to have at least two days off a week and build from there.

“Then look at your whole lifestyle. Nutrition is key, when you’re drinking heavily you’ll probably skip meals and thereby miss out on vital protein, which can make you feel anxious, but also alcohol depletes your vitamin levels.

“Drinking heavily can leave you deficient in B vitamins particularly, which in turn brings down your energy levels and makes you feel depressed, which  might make you want to drink more. I would suggest taking multivitamins and a complex vitamin B.

“Exercise is also very helpful. And talking to someone you trust – it doesn’t need to be a counsellor – a friend or family member who is willing to listen and not give up on you can be very helpful, too. Online forums can be very useful – there are often people who are in recovery there who can inspire you.

“Think back to a time when you weren’t using alcohol as a comforter, what used to soothe you and try to do that instead.

“By quitting alcohol, your life will be better than ever.”

For help and more information, go to British Liver Trust.

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Tips to help you quit or cut down

Guidelines for both men and women suggest a maximum of 14 units per week, which is roughly six pints of lager or one and a half bottles of wine. If you’re thinking about quitting drinking or cutting down, try these simple tips:

1. Use the Drink Free Days app – it allows you to set yourself a weekly unit target to stick to.

2. If you are a wine drinker, switch to white or rosé as they are often lower in strength than red, and opt for low- alcohol alternatives.

3. Sticking to an alcohol budget can ensure you drink less. If you take out only a certain amount of cash, you’ll know once the money is gone, you can’t drink any more.

4. Tell your family and friends. If you let them know it’s important to you, they should support you.

5. Take it one day at a time. Cut back a little each day, so every day is a success.

6. You can still enjoy a drink, but go for smaller sizes. Try bottled beer instead of pints. Or a small glass of wine instead of a large.

7. Have a glass of water before you drink, and alternate alcoholic drinks with non-alcoholic drinks.

8. Take a break and have several drink-free days per week.

For more information, head to Alcohol Change's website.