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Name: | 'Layla' |
Age: | 25 |
Year of the Fix: | 2009 |
Location: | West of England |
Campaign: | I was addicted to crack and heroin and turned to prostitution to afford drugs |
To be able to tell you my full story, I can’t tell you my real name – so I will be ‘Layla’ on this website.
I started smoking crack and heroin when I was 14 years old. By the time I was 15, I realised that I was addicted to it and couldn’t live without it. Just before my 16th birthday, I turned to prostitution to get the money I needed to get my drugs. I worked as a prostitute for a number of years – all just to get the money I needed to fuel my addiction.
Working as a prostitute was so dangerous and I nearly died a couple of times. I have been raped, thrown from moving cars and almost killed and during one year I went to hospital seven times. I got really bad septicaemia and blood clots from using needles and stuff and that nearly killed me too. I’m lucky to be alive really and it was all because of my addiction.
I decided to produce a film showing my story. I wanted it to show other young people that there is support out there for you if you need it and I wanted it to stop others going to the lengths I did for drugs. I loved the idea of making a film and was so excited by it – I’d never had opportunities like this before and if I had, I might not have gone down the path I did.
The film is really powerful and shows my story along with so many other young women in the UK. I want it to be shown in Women’s projects and Foster homes to warn other young people what you can get yourself into.
Mary-Anne White and Lucy Wills
Macauley Collinson
Hannah Carter
Becky
'Ben'
Fixers
Fern Lulham
Kiki
Jo Quinn
Hafsa Ur-Rehman
Me and my friends want young people to know that calories aren't the enemy!
Shannon Rawlings
Olivia G
Liam Thomas
'Kate'
Ben Simms
Jade Kingdom
Alexandra Garrick
Timothy Cranfield
Sam Womack