Champion Aussie boxer who was a heroin addict at 13 opens up about fighting just WEEKS after an overdose left him on the brink of death
Midgley, 41, has turned his life around after decades of addiction that began when he started injecting heroin at just 13.
He's now transformed his life and is trying to help others do the same with his unique rehab centre, Hope in Health, which he has recently relocated to Thailand.
'I was a kid from Melbourne that grew up and gravitated to drugs really quickly,' he told Gary Jubelin on the I Catch Killers podcast.
'I didn't understand why, I seemed to have come from a decent family in a decent area.
'My dad was a good provider, you know, spent times at good schools.
'From an outside perspective, there was no idea why it happened, you know?
'And I sort of lived in that confusion. I didn't really know why I got into drugs.'
When he discovered heroin, Midgley said the world suddenly made a lot more sense.
'I thought I had found the holy grail of substances. The secret to life,' he said.
'I had a bit of an ego back then, I thought junkies came from bad backgrounds. I didn't think I'd get addicted.
'It was my own little secret. But my parents found out after finding drug stuff in my blazer after I'd run away from boarding school. By the age of 16, I was fully addicted.'
Midgley's dad introduced to him boxing as a kid and he decided to take it more seriously while battling his addiction issues as a young adult.
He would go onto to have 14 amateur and nine professional fights and win the NSW cruiserweight title.
'One of the things that I liked about boxing and fight camps was that it was the closest thing that I had to like a reason not to take drugs and not to drink,' Midgley told Daily Mail Australia.
'So, I used to book myself a fight, and do my best I can stay clean and sober. When it worked, I did okay. When it didn't work, I wasn't as good.'
One of Migley's lowest points was when he overdosed so badly that he was on the brink of death and struggled to even walk once revived.
Amazingly, he accepted a fight shortly afterwards while he was recovering in rehab.
'I was in rehab, full of shame, and I wanted to come out in the best state that I could,' he said.
'I found the drive to train while I was in rehab. One of my old trainers came and held pads for me a couple of times a week.
'Although I lost the fight, it was still one of my personal standouts because five weeks prior to that I was at death's door, not being able to walk from an overdose and psychosis, and smoking thirty cigarettes a day.
'I was just in a really f**king bad way. My wife had left me and back home, I didn't have anywhere to go - so it was a big moment.'
Midgley decided to hang up the gloves when he noticed his resiliance to punches was fading.
He's now dedicated to helping others who are fighting with addiction issues and urges anybody struggling to seek help.
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