‘I was ready to end my life but God showed me the light’

After a lifetime of masking hurt with alcohol, Craig Paton hit rock bottom. On the brink of taking his own life, a moment of sunlight brought clarity and changed everything

I was brought up in a Christian household, but we weren’t devout. We’d go to church maybe once or twice a month. I was in The Boys’ Brigade when I was younger, but moved away from it as I got older.

I had my first alcoholic drink when I was 14. I come from Scotland, and here, your life is essentially planned out for you. Everyone thinks: I can’t wait to be 18 and go to the pub. Can’t wait to go on a boys’ holiday. You start drinking for fun. You go out and drink as much as you can. The culture reinforces it…