Kelsey McCormick lost her grandad during Covid, sparking a tornado of emotions and low mood for the young Lisburn woman.
Turning to alcohol, the 23-year-old says she was suffering with severe depression, drinking alcohol and was arrested on numerous occasions. Once seeing herself with no future, and very little hope, Kelsey has now landed the job of her dreams, and is helping to encourage other young people into sport.
Speaking to Belfast Live, she said there was a point where she could see no way out, where she wanted to end her life. Today, she says she has so much to live for and has praised the IFA for helping her when she was at rock bottom.
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"When I talk about it, I feel like nobody fully understand how incredible it is," Kelsey said.
"I was really close with my granda, and during the pandemic, he died from Covid. It was a really hard thing to go through. Before Covid, I was working and then obviously places closed, so I just started drinking.
"It was getting worse, the drinking, I couldn't stop. I got arrested time after time again, it was a really rough patch for me. I was doing the Duke of Edinburgh with my mental health team and from there, they asked me what I was interested in, and at the time, I had no interests at all.
"They said to me that I seemed to be good at sports, so they introduced me to the Fresh Start Through Sports scheme with the Irish Football Association. It's a 16 week programme and you get to learn more about sports and I completed it. I didn't want to go to the first one on my own because I didn't know anyone, but the second week, the IFA booked a taxi to make sure I went.
"That was great and I finally got into the taxi, and haven't looked back since. After the 16 weeks, they said I seemed to be really interested in it, and they sat me down and asked what I wanted to do going forward.
"At this stage, my mental health was still really bad. I didn't have a job and was still drinking. I told them that I loved it, but that it has been hard. They put me on a new scheme, which was more focused on disabled coaching.
"The IFA paid for my taxis from Lisburn to Windsor so that I could complete it, without them, I would have no other way to get. They just were so brilliant to me. I didn't want to end the relationship with them and because they gave me something to look forward to every week, I wasn't going out and drinking."
The team at Windsor saw potential in Kelsey, and asked her to stay on with them. They asked her to become an ambassador, helping out with different programmes. She now has a job with the IFA.
Kelsey added: "For anyone who may be in the same position I was once in, I want to tell them to stick in there. I now have my own two bedroom apartment, my own French Bulldog and a job. I have everything going for me now and my life has changed for the better.
"If the IFA didn't come along, I don't know where I would be today. Everything would just be so different."
Anyone who needs to talk to someone about mental health issues can call the Samaritans on 116123 or Lifeline on 0808 808 8000 .
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