A dad-of-four needs a liver transplant after the death of his best friend and covid lockdowns turned him to drink.
57-year-old Stephen Allcock sought solace in bottles of wine and whisky after seeing his transport business close down, suffering family issues, and losing his best mate in a crash.
Stephen progressed from drinking three bottles of wine a night to up to a bottle of whisky every day.
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And the heavy drinking finally came to an end when Stephen was diagnosed with ascites and liver failure - and was told he needed to get a transplant, according to Stoke-on-Trent Live.
Stephen had to visit the Hartshill complex at the Royal Stoke University Hospital every fortnight to have his liver drained.
He said: “I had always been a social drinker.
"With the covid lockdown, everything was curtailed and there was nothing happening at all.
“I went from having a good business to nothing overnight. I had a few issues in my family too and instead of doing the right thing and tackling the problem I just hit the bottle.
“My best mate of 50-odd years got killed in an accident on the M6. I had all this going on and it was one thing after another.
“I just switched off and thought that I had to get out of my head for a bit. I started out on wine and then it ended up switching into the stronger stuff like whisky and gin.
“I was drinking everyday. It was at night and for me it was a way of getting stuff out of my head. I was having a couple of bottles of wine on a daily basis. After a year I moved onto the stronger stuff.
“It started off as a couple of glasses of whisky a day but then it ended up with me looking at a bottle that was nearly empty. I was in a constant haze and never really completely sober - I knew I had a serious problem.
“I buried myself in a bottle and that was the wrong way to go about it. It was easier to have a drink and forget about everything.”
He soon became ill after consuming the vast amounts of alcohol. Stephen would also take laxatives, assuming he was constipated, which did nothing for his health.
Stephen's pain became unbearable, and he got himself to the Royal Stoke University Hospital, where he was diagnosed with the ascites and liver failure.
Due to his liver not functioning properly, Stephen's stomach fills with acidic fluid, which he must get drained by medical professionals.
He gets this procedure done every two weeks, but Stephen admits it’s only a ‘short-term’ resolution.
Stephen needs the liver transplant and he is on a waiting list - but he could be waiting up to five years.
And he has not drank alcohol since he was diagnosed last year.
Stephen added: “I got very big, very quick. It got to the stage where I was in agony and in so much pain. It was unbelievable and something I don’t want anyone else to go through. It was terrible.
"I was trying laxatives and painkillers to try to relieve it but nothing was working. I couldn’t sleep or do anything.
“I was terrible and crying. I was begging for morphine, there was that much pain.
“On a scale of one to 100 - 100 being the best your liver could be - mine is on about 30. When you eat and drink things, because your liver is not functioning properly.
"The toxins and acids are going straight to my stomach - it’s like being full-term pregnant every two weeks.
“They won’t drain you until you are really big because of the chances of hitting a vital organ. I have to go every two weeks for the procedure.
“It’s not just me, some people have to get it done weekly. It’s a simple procedure and a way of dealing with the problem on a short-term basis.
“They are doing tests on me to see if my body could cope with a liver bypass. It means any toxins will be removed straight from my system so I could become disorientated.
“When I drain it’s between 10 to 12 litres of fluid and that’s a lot of weight. It’s like five two-litre bottles of Coke coming out of you.”
Stephen is calling on the Royal Stoke to create a dedicated ‘mini-ward’ for this procedure to take place.
Currently hospital staff have the capacity to carry out the procedure on one patient daily but with this ward they could treat up to four people daily.
He said: “The problem is they’ve got no dedicated facilities for this drainage procedure. Currently there’s a three week waiting list. If I was diagnosed today I would have to spend three days in hospital before I could have a drain.
“Then I would have to ask if I could get on the register and it would be three weeks before I could have another drain unless I was in a dire state. If they can’t fit you in then you have to go back through A&E which is another three days in hospital.
“They are trying to get together a ward in the gastro-liver unit where they will have access to four beds so they could do up to four people a day which would take all of the strain away.
“Once you are in the system they are fantastic and I can’t fault the liver nurses, the team has been fantastic. It’s getting yourself in the system that’s the problem.
“People that are wanting the drains can’t get them because they are on a waiting list. The mini-ward would be amazing.
“Once they have done the procedure it’s a case of waiting to have the bag emptied and a nurse can do that. It’s about having the facility there. If they can get this ward running, three or four people won’t need a bed and it will free up space for other patients and operations.”
Reflecting on why he decided to stop drinking, Stephen added: “I stopped drinking as soon as I got diagnosed in August last year. It was a case of quitting or suffering the consequences.
"I decided that was it and I haven’t touched a drop since.
“I am a strong-willed person and when I put my mind to do something I will do it and going through the agony and pain I went through, I thought I never want to experience that ever again.
“If it means drinking and dying then I am not going to do that. I got myself in this mess and I had to give myself the chance to get out of it so the first thing I did was stop drinking.”
Dr Zia Din, Consultant Physician in Acute and General Internal Medicine and Clinical Lead for Ambulatory Emergency Care, said: “A nurse-led service is provided for patients with complex gastroenterology and liver conditions where specialist scans and infusions can be conducted the same day.
“This is currently managed in the Ambulatory Emergency Centre but we are exploring the possibilities of providing additional capacity in the Gastro and Liver Unit.”
