Abandoned in a Bush at Age 2 | Paul Fogarty’s Story of Addiction, Crime & Turning His Life Around

In this powerful and emotional podcast episode, we sit down with Paul Fogarty to hear one of the most unbelievable life stories you’ll ever hear.

Paul was born into incredibly difficult circumstances. Due to his mother drinking heavily during pregnancy, Paul was born with one arm and no legs. At just 2 years old, his life took an even darker turn when he was abandoned in a bush by his own mother.

No one knows exactly why she did it. Maybe she couldn’t cope. Maybe Paul was a painful reminder of her actions.

Thankfully, Paul was adopted by a caring woman who did everything she could to give him a better life. She encouraged him to maintain a relationship with his father and tried her best to guide him as he grew up.

But as Paul entered his teenage years, things began to spiral.

With little discipline and growing anger, Paul started to act out, rebel, and fall into drugs and alcohol. When his father passed away when Paul was just 16, Paul moved into his father’s flat — a decision that unfortunately fueled his downward spiral. The flat soon became a place where drugs were used and sold, and Paul struggled to keep jobs or stability in his life.

Eventually, things became so bad that Paul’s adoptive mother sold the flat and funded Paul to travel the world, hoping he might find a new path.

Paul traveled solo to Thailand, chasing the sun, alcohol, and drugs — and that’s exactly what he found.

After returning to England, his addiction intensified. Paul became addicted to crack cocaine, experimented with heroin, and turned to shoplifting and violence to fund his habit. Arrests became common, and nothing stood in the way of his next fix.

But Paul’s story doesn’t end there.

After meeting a woman he truly cared about, Paul realised he had something worth changing for. Determined not to lose her, he made the life-changing decision to get sober and rebuild his life.

This episode is a raw, honest conversation about:

• Surviving childhood abandonment

• Living with severe disability

• Addiction and criminal life

• Hitting rock bottom

• Finding a reason to change

• The power of redemption

Paul’s story is shocking, inspiring, and deeply human.

If you enjoy real conversations about addiction recovery, resilience, and life transformation, this is an episode you don’t want to miss.

👍 Like, Comment & Subscribe for more powerful podcast conversations.