On the 20th of October Hamish and I hosted the NewstalkZB show “The Nutters Club.”
We talked with Wiremu Phillips who shared his story of growing up in what he describes as a ‘once were warriors’ life, his parents drinking and doing drugs and him left to be the primary caregiver. At age 20 he had the heart to try and repair his relationship with his father, who tragically died in Phillips’ presence when he was visiting to have what he had hoped would be a pivotal conversation in healing their relationship.
Overcome with grief, Phillips set off to Auckland city to live on the streets for the best part of 16 years, where he succumbed to alcohol and drug addiction, including sniffing glue. After many health complications and multiple surgeries, one day Phillips decided he’d had enough and was ready to start to turn his life around. He ended up living in a rest home, where he finally felt welcome and cared for. After years of not eating well, Phillips had a healthy appetite and ended up overeating and putting on lots of weight – getting to 245kg. Again, Phillips realised he was not happy with the direction of his life wanted to change, so he connected with Dave Letele, founder of BBM Motivation, an Auckland based program supporting people on their health and wellness journeys. Through BBM, Phillips has lost 87kg so far and is not only continuing his own health journey, but motivated to support others to turn their life around as well.
With thanks to NZ on Air.
To listen to the audio of the show, it’s in two parts, click the links below…
