Light at the end of addiction 'WE'VE BEEN TO HELL AND BACK'

After kicking their bad habits, the committed couple are helping others beat the disease

- Fleur Guthrie

At her lowest point during an arduous battle with drug addiction, Emily Doré didn't care if she woke up from an overdose or not. Death would have been a welcome relief.

By the age of 26, the former beauty therapist was smoking so much crystal methamphetamine that her weight had dropped to just 40kg. She shook constantly and had infections in her nail beds.

"I was a mess. I was bleeding daily from every orifice of my body and had distanced myself from all friends and family. And like all good New Zealand criminals, I escaped to Australia," says 39-year-old Emily with a wry smile.

"I went to Sydney and got my physical health back, but it took a while to get my mental health back.

After having two abortions in my 20s, I guess they were the catalyst to hitting rock bottom and an intense self-hatred." However, the Emily sharing her story today is a very different woman. Now drug-free for 12 years and sitting next to her husband Gavin, also a former addict, the mum-of-one is self-assured, eloquent and glowing with health.

Underpinned by their Christian faith, the Takapuna couple are now determined to help others find life again after addiction and tackle New Zealand's "rampant” drug problem.

Despite neither having degrees, they have been accepted into post-graduate courses at the University of Auckland("a miracle in itself!”), which they hope will support their goal of opening a national rehabilitation initiative.

To help fund their studies in health sciences and business, they hesitantly decided to "put ourselves out there" and set up a fundraising page.