Queensland mother Hayley Holt spent years hooked on ice after a favour to a friend went wrong.
But a chance meeting outside a court room has helped the 39-year-old turn her life around.
Ms Holt was living in Blackwater with her husband when a friend approached her and asked if she would sell drugs to help improve their financial situations.
But after ordering the drugs and realising her friend was not intending to pitch in, the mother-of-five felt forced to keep going, she told Daily Mail Australia.
‘I had eight eight-balls ordered,’ she said, describing the drugs as a ‘bomb in my hand’.
Soon after, Ms Holt was dipping into her supply, starting a habit that would land her in jail, with no job, no husband and her beloved children taken away from her.
Hayley Holt, 39, lost her husband, job, and four of her children to her ice addiction, which eventually saw her jailed for cooking ice (left). But her prison sentence and a chance meeting at Family Court saw her turn her life around (right)
Ms Holt had four of her children taken away from her by her former husband when she was sentenced to jail, and took her five-month-old son in with her. She has regained access to her children after becoming clean
Before long, Ms Holt’s dips into her own supply had become a full-time habit, which consumed her life and ended her marriage to her high school sweetheart.
She was taking both speed and ice, and had begun to inject the drugs into her body.
Still living with her husband and their children, Ms Holt said her former love had tried to get through to her about her habit, writing her a letter because she was never in a state to talk.
‘He wrote me a letter, and it said: “wake up to yourself before you lose everything”,’ she recalled.
Soon after, she was arrested and charged with trafficking. The reality of what she was doing kicked in, and after two days in police cells, she vowed to get clean.
For months, the 39-year-old was successful, but it was another chance at love that set her off again.
The apple of her eye made money by cooking the drug ice. Their relationship soon resulted in pregnancy, and he is the father of her fifth child.
More than halfway through her pregnancy, she and her partner were charged with producing prohibited substances.
Still living with her husband and their children, Ms Holt said her former love had tried to get through to her about her habit, writing her a letter because she was never in a state to talk
More than halfway through her pregnancy, she and her partner were charged with producing prohibited substances
‘My new partner and I – he was the cook, I wasn’t – but we both got done for producing amphetamines,’ she said.
‘I kept saying to him, let’s get off it, but if he was going into a bubble, I wasn’t going to miss out.
‘When we got done [by the police], I said “I can’t do this anymore”.’
When her son was just five months old, she was handed a four year sentence, of which she served 14 months – with her baby boy inside the prison walls alongside her and her other four children removed from her care.
Ms Holt’s prison sentence was a big wake up call for her. Having lost nearly everything she cherished, she resolved to turn her life around before it was too late.
‘I never craved the drug in jail,’ she said.
‘I stripped myself down, I changed every part of me. My mum lived and breathed for me, I met my husband at 16, and he doted on me.
‘I think I became a bit of a shit person, because I never had to take responsibility.’
Ms Holt’s prison sentence was a big wake up call for her. Having lost nearly everything she cherished, she resolved to turn her life around before it was too late
Ms Holt has now been sober for four years and two months, and is proud to say she has rebuilt her life from the ruins her ice use left it in
On the day she was released, she headed back to her parents’ home, which her children had decorated with a ‘welcome home mummy’ sign.
Her mother and three of her aunties, who had started to write to her in prison, gave her all the support she needed to stay clean, and two months after her release, she moved closer to her children and began to rebuild the life she once led.
‘I’ve come a long way, and there have been shit days, but never once did I think I needed to go back to drugs,’ she said.
‘I’ve never even gone back to that house to get my stuff.
‘When I got out of prison, I was taking my children out and we stopped at a public toilet – it was the first and only time I’ve ever had cravings.
‘I locked myself in the house for six days. [The addiction] is terrible, it grabs you.’
Sitting in Family Court after her release, waiting to ask a judge for greater access to her four children from her first relationship, she met the owner of a local accounting firm, Brooke Roberts.
‘I never craved the drug in jail,’ she said. ‘I stripped myself down, I changed every part of me. My mum lived and breathed for me, I met my husband at 16, and he doted on me’
Ms Holt told her story to Brooke Roberts (pictured) when the pair met in Family Court, and just two days later, Ms Roberts offered her a job at the local accounting firm she owned
The pair got talking, and Ms Holt shared her story of addiction and redemption.
Two days later, Ms Roberts contacted her solicitor and asked for Ms Holt’s number, so she could offer the woman a job.
‘Not having to keep anything from her has been amazing, she’s been so supportive,’ Ms Holt said.
‘[Ms Roberts] believes everyone deserves a second chance, so it’s been really lovely.’
Ms Holt started working for Meridian Accounting in June 2015, and has been clean and sober for four years and two months.
She said she’s been blessed with a strong support network around her, from family to her new boss.
‘I love the woman I am now,’ she said.