Manchester-based tech entrepreneur Nicky Wake has bravely shared before and after photos of herself to show the impact alcohol had on her appearance.
Wake is the founder of the Chapter 2 Dating platform and Don’t Panic Events management company and described herself as a ‘high-functioning alcoholic’ before checking into rehab.
She’s been alcohol-free for 145 days since checking out of rehab and used the occasion to share photos of the impact alcohol was having on her life.
Wake turned to drink after the tragic death of her husband Andy in 2020. His brain was starved of oxygen after he suffered a heart attack and he died during Covid, leaving his wife to raise their young son Finn.
Now’s she started to turn her life around and hasn’t touched alcohol in the 145 days since checking out of rehab.
Writing on LinkedIn she said: “I was a high-functioning alcoholic. I was miserable and deep down, I knew I was spiralling.
“I’d spent the last several years running on fumes. My soul shattered when I lost Andy, the love of my life. Grief hit me hard, and I didn’t know how to deal with it.
“I had a grieving child, a business to run, and the constant pressure of trying to keep everything together.
“So, I turned to alcohol, which wasn’t new to me. I grew up in the Hacienda, and I was no stranger to a party, but things took a turn after Andy’s heart attack.
“It was almost immediate. I remember giving Andy CPR for 40 minutes at home alone after his heart attack and the second the paramedics took over, I was pouring myself a glass of wine.
“Each time I would visit him in hospital I was accompanied by a bottle of diet coke topped up with vodka.
“I’m not proud of it, but I was doing whatever I could to numb the pain.”
In 2022 the serial entrepreneur launched the UK’s only dedicated dating app for widows and widowers but said she hit rock bottom in November 2024.
“I was in a dark, dark place and it all hit me,” she revealed. “I woke up one morning, poured my usual glass of wine, and thought, ‘What the **** am I doing with my life?’ It was like a slap in the face.
“I did something I thought I’d never do. I checked myself into rehab the day before my son’s birthday.
“28 days of intense therapy, CBT, counselling, hypnosis, meditation was everything I needed to change my life around.
“I even registered a new business in rehab, SoberLove.app, after reading a leaflet about sober sex and coming to the terrifying realisation that I’d never had sober sex and my love life was about to become difficult.
“I’m 145 days into my journey and I’ve never felt healthier, more alive, more driven and for the first time in years, I feel like I’m truly ME again.
“For anyone out there struggling, you don’t have to do it alone. Asking for help was the hardest step, but it was the best one I ever took.
“We all have our battles, and it’s okay to talk about them.”