I thought my powerlifter father was the strongest man in the world. But a secret steroid addiction took him – and us – to the brink

Emma Fowle and her brother, James, in 1981, with their father, Arthur White, and his collection of powerlifting trophies. Photograph: courtesy of Emma Fowle

When I tell people that a drug addiction nearly killed my dad, I know what most of them are thinking. Heroin. Crack. Maybe meth or ket. Those substances that steal your soul and slowly wreak havoc on your body. They’re imagining Trainspotting; too-skinny frames and protruding hip bones, the physical effects of addiction that are impossible to miss.

But that isn’t how it played out in my family.