A father who was addicted to £1,500-a-weekend cocaine binges is now sober for the first time in 18 years, attributing his recovery to a daily five-minute ice bath. Lewis Milton, 36, from Dagenham, Essex, began gambling, drinking, and using cocaine at age 18 with football friends. He quickly became hooked, spending £3,000 from his family in days, stealing his parents' credit cards, and pawning his grandmother's jewellery to fund his habits. Despite trying to quit at least 15 times, he relapsed repeatedly, cycling through jobs and losing thousands of pounds.
Rock Bottom and Turning Point
Over the years, Lewis faced arrest for aggressive behaviour, hospitalisation with liver damage, rotting teeth, and ended up suicidal and homeless after relationships with family and friends broke down. In 2025, he discovered cold water therapy as a form of addiction support and decided to try it. The six-degree water in his inflatable plunge pool provides a shock that reduces anxiety and grounds him. Lewis has now been clean and sober for over 100 days and credits all his progress to ice bath therapy.
He said: "I remember being 17 and going into the bookies with my older football friends. I hit a big win one time and from there I fell into gambling. I ended up out every weekend, drinking to fit in and taking cocaine, and soon it became one continuous binge for seven days and nights without sleep. I stole credit cards, pawned my nan's jewellery, lost my job for not showing up, and racked up debts with dealers. I would go days without eating, just smoking 20-25 joints a day. I was numb to everything. I was waiting for something like a heart attack to happen. I didn't see a way out or how I would ever stop. But now I'm over 100 days sober. I've put on weight, eat well, have new teeth, and I do an ice bath every day. I was destroying and abusing my body. I feel lucky enough to have another chance in life."
Descent into Addiction
When Lewis began going out with football mates, trips to the pub led to casinos, and he started drinking and dabbling with cocaine while gambling every weekend. Soon, it was no longer "just a bit of fun" and became essential for him to enjoy his nights. He said: "I came into £3,000 from family and I remember having no control. Within days I had spunked all the money. I started stealing mum and dad's credit cards when I ran out of money. I would claim the winnings in cash and try to pay it back before they noticed. But eventually their cards started declining, and that, coupled with the drink and drugs, got me kicked out of my home."
Lewis borrowed cash from friends but never paid them back, and then began racking up debts with dealers. He said: "Once, I won £5k from a £20 bet in the bookies and within two hours it was all gone. It got nasty. Once my dad had to pay back £2,500 to a dealer who threatened to kill me if I didn't get the money back to him." He first interacted with Gambling Anonymous and Alcoholics Anonymous at age 24. He even got clean for 88 days and thought he had cracked it until he relapsed with a seven-day "bender" alone with no sleep.
Dark Turn and Recovery
Things took a dark turn when he began using marijuana more heavily, making him "angry, aggressive, and a horrible person." He said: "I would kick and throw things. Once my mum went upstairs and called the police, and I was arrested. I went apesh*t." He spent hardly any time with his daughter, now two, when she was born in April 2024 because he was on a "bender" after losing his most recent job. Lewis was hospitalised in June 2025 with liver damage, a hernia, and jaundice. The same year, he was banned from his football ground for bringing in drugs.
His turning point came when he was introduced to ice plunging through a video of Wim Hof on Instagram Reels and decided to try it. In an attempt to help his son get sober, Lewis's dad gifted him a plunge pool for Christmas 2025, and in January he started attending Fellowship meetings again. He went sober once and for all on January 30 and hasn't looked back. He now sees his two-year-old daughter Marla-May Milton regularly, has dentures to replace his broken teeth, eats a healthy diet, and has regained a healthy weight. He does a five-minute daily ice plunge, which helps keep cravings at bay due to the cold shock. Lewis is still paying off £10k of debts from gambling and drug use but said he is on the right path now.
He said: "I feel incredible. I feel so proud. I don't even know how I've done it, but I have. Once, I could never be without a pocket flask of Jack Daniels, and I was taking a minimum of five grams of cocaine a day. Now, my life is so different. I get goosebumps thinking about it."
