Wigan mum turns her back on vice to help others

Sevda Hussein, who moved to Wigan two years ago to start a new life, has pulled herself “back from the brink” to help others in the same boat.

Other news: Man in court charged with murder of Billy LivesleyThe 46-year-old mum-of-one has told her inspirational tale of beating crack, speed and heroin addictions with nothing but her own willpower in the hope that she may strike a chord with anyone struggling with drug misuse.

“I was spending between £400 to £500 a day on drugs,” she said.

“And to deal with that I was selling sex.

“The journey to get where I am today has been incredibly long.

“I decided one day that I had so much to give other people, mainly because of what I have experienced in my life.

“I didn’t go to counselling it was just a snap decision and that was it, I stopped taking drugs.

“I know it just isn’t as simple as that for everyone but I really want people to know that it can be done, just in case it inspires even one person that they can do it too.”

Sevda, who has been clean for nine years now, said that the moment came when she was living in a flat in London and working as a prostitute.

“It got to the point where I just thought ‘I can’t live like this anymore’”, she added.

“I thought I had no choice but to make a change. And when you feel like that you do anything within your power to change.

“I am really lucky to have been able to turn my life around like that, it really isn’t easy to just do, but I do believe that other people can do it.”

Sevda, a Turkish Cypriot, was put into foster care almost immediately after she was born.

For the first three years of her life she went through “countless” homes before being settled with a family in Henley-on-Thames at three years of age.

“I really didn’t get on well there,” she said.

“It’s very much a white middle class area. I left at the age of 16 and never looked back.”

After this, Sevda was homeless, eventually falling into the severe drug addiction which ravaged her financially, physically and emotionally.

“I ended up being sectioned because my mental health became so bad,” she added.

“I suffered really badly with that.”

Not long after reaching her “breaking point”, she kicked her habit for good and moved up north to a friend’s place Cumbria for a clean break.

Six years ago, she gave birth to her daughter, who she says is the “best thing to ever happen” to her.

“She’s the love of my life,” added Sevda.

After moving to Leeds, where she volunteered as a motivational speaker for Basis, a Yorkshire-based charity which works with female and transgender women in the sex industry, Sevda finally settled in Wigan.

“I was studying psychology in Bolton but I decided I wanted to do something more practical, to help people hands on,” she said.

“I got my level four and level five in counselling and i’m in the process of setting up my own life-coaching and counselling business.

“I hope that my life experience can go some way to helping others in the same position.”