Episode Details

Burn Survivor Terry Dunnage on Alcohol, Grief, and the Night He Nearly Ended It

Season 1 Episode 6 Published 4 years, 10 months ago

Description

Terry Dunnage was 12 years old, locked in a bedroom for days at a time, talking to a plastic keyring he kept in a matchbox with a tissue for a blanket. That was his only friend for three years.

At 28, his uncle walked into his kitchen with a jerry can of petrol and a yellow lighter. Terry survived 48 percent burns. While he was in a drug-induced coma, his daughter died. He woke up not knowing.

Years later, sitting in his car with a sawn-off under his chin and one cartridge in the chamber, alcohol nearly finished what the fire could not. His mates pulled up just in time.

Terry is a burn survivor, a mental health advocate, and one of the most resilient men Dave has ever interviewed. He doesn't drink. He doesn't dwell. He spends his life now trying to be the man he wishes had been sitting beside his hospital bed.

You'll hear about: a childhood spent in solitary confinement at home; what really pushed him to nearly take his own life; why he gave up drinking for good; how he learned to walk, talk and box again; the goal-setting mindset that brought him back.

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Provided below are links for services offering additional help and advice, and also contacts for Terry.

@Terrydunnage

https://www.instagram.com/terrydunnage/

@Alcoholexplained

https://www.instagram.com/alcoholexplained/

https://www.wearewithyou.org.uk/

https://www.drinkaware.co.uk/advice/alcohol-support-services

https://nacoa.org.uk/

https://alcoholchange.org.uk/