An Albany woman has plumbed the lowest depths and scaled high peaks in a battle with the bottle.
Key Points:
- Chelle Fisher battled alcohol and drug addiction from her teenage years
- He has climbed eight mountains in eight days to raise awareness and money for a WA family violence centre.
- Ms Fisher says hiking has helped her regain control of her life
Family and domestic violence support services:
Chelle Fisher spent 23 years battling drug and alcohol addiction, but has now kicked those habits and climbed eight peaks in southern Western Australia this month to help people escaping domestic violence.
Ms Fisher turned to alcohol and drugs as a child after experiencing family violence.
“I went on the trip every year,” the 43-year-old said.
“Part of my sobriety, or how I got sober, was basically instead of drinking that six-pack in the afternoon, I replaced it with going on a hike.”
It has now been eight years since Mrs Fisher took her last drink and challenged herself to climb eight mountains in eight days to celebrate.
“I started when I was 13,” he said.
“I started because that was my coping mechanism. I was going through a lot of family domestic violence.
“My support was drugs and alcohol. So I struggled with that addiction for 23 years.”
Some days it was more than a six pack.
“I was a half-ass and I was functioning. I was a functioning alcoholic; I started a business, I was a mother; I had to have a home,” she said.
But it couldn’t last forever.
Chelle Fisher now uses hiking as an alternative to drinking. (Provided by: Chelle Fisher)
Start new and healthy habits
Tired of waking up feeling like hell, Mrs. Fisher started making changes.
If you need help:
- National Alcohol and Other Drug Helpline: 1800 250 015 — 24/7 information, advice and referrals (web chat is also available Monday to Friday 8.30am to 5pm)
- Family Drug Support: 1300 368 186 — 24/7 support and information for families, friends and carers of people with alcohol and drug problems.
- Al-Anon: 1300 252 666 — counseling and support groups for friends and family of alcoholics.
- Path2Help – An online tool that assesses the problem and connects you with nearby support services
- Beyond Blue: 1300 224 636
- Life line: 13 11 14
- MensLine Australia: 1300 789 978
“There’s so much I don’t remember, which is sad. Because I got married, I had two kids, and I was just on autopilot,” she said.
“I wasn’t really living, I was just surviving.
“It was in my 20s, probably about eight years later, when I started to realize, ‘Hey, there’s got to be more to life than what I’m doing.’
“Slowly and surely, I began to crawl out of the hole I was in and find my way.”
It was July 2014 and a “mother of all hangovers” got Ms Fisher off the couch and into the mountains.
“I had such a bad hangover. It was so scary. And I just said, ‘No more.’ And it was easier when I made that decision,” she said.
“And that’s when I was able to start [to] just get out and walk.”
Ms Fisher said challenging any negative thoughts helped her on her new path.
“I also had to remind myself that this was a pattern,” she said.
“It wasn’t so much that I was weak, it was just a pattern that I was playing over and over because I didn’t know anything else.
“So I had to give myself something else, which was hiking.”
Chelle Fisher has been raising funds to support other survivors of family violence. (Provided by: Chelle Fisher)
Picks raise money and awareness
Over eight days, Ms. Fisher climbed eight mountains in the Great South. It started with Mt Hallowell near Denmark and ended with Mt Frankland near Walpole.
But it was Nancy Peak in the Porongurups on a wet and windy day that presented his biggest challenge.
“Honestly, I’m not usually scared when I’m out exploring the outdoors, but I was scared,” she said.
“What I didn’t take into account was the wind gusts. Seriously, the wind gusts were 30 to 40 kilometers.
“I was frozen at one point because I felt like if I moved, I could get off the mountain.”
Ms Fisher lived to tell the tale and completed her challenge to raise funds for the Albany Family Domestic Violence Action Group.
“I just feel like I’m giving something to an organization that can potentially help someone so they can avoid going the way I did,” he said.
Chelle Fisher has been sober for several years thanks to scenic hiking trails. (Supplier: Chelle Fisher)
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