Natasha Farnham doing what she did best

Natasha Farnham is probably the youngest person in the UK suffering from liver failure. 18-year-old Natasha first began drinking when she was 12, skipping school and stealing money from her mother in order to get drunk with friends. By the age of 14, Natasha was in the hospital because of the failure and was told she would die if she kept it up.

After drinking hard cider when she was 12, Farnham began skipping school up to four times in order to drink. In addition, she would lie to her mother about staying over a friend’s house and would drink, spending the money her mother gave her for dinner on booze or in some cases just flat out stealing from her mom. By the age of 14, she was drinking up to the equivalent of six bottles of wine a day. That’s a hell of a lot. At this point things got pretty bad.

On New Year’s Day 2004, she was rushed to hospital after a three-day binge in which she drank four boxes of wine – equivalent to 16 bottles.

“The doctors warned me to clean up my act or I could die,” she added.
“But I didn’t listen.”
“I was too young to understand what an alcoholic was, let alone understand that I was one.”

She kept binge drinking even though she was on medication for her liver, completely undoing any benefit the medication would have had. Natasha was eventually sentenced to a two-year community order (is that the same as community service?) over a burglary charge. Thankfully, she is currently undergoing treatment for her alcoholism but her decision to change came too late.

“But now I have no short-term memory and doctors warn me that if I drink any more, I will die. Don’t end up like me.
“I have been a binge-drinker, had liver failure and been in rehab and I’m still a teenager.”

Now Natasha wants to warn teens about the dangers of drinking. Her mother attributes the daughter’s habit to the low cost of liquor in the UK. One place they fail to place blame though is the parents. Where was the mother when the daughter first started drinking? There is a chance the daughter would not do it anywhere near the mother but considering how often she drank, missed school, and stole, you would think the mother would have realized something was up. At least she’s trying to convince others not to follow in her foot steps. That’s one step in the right direction.

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