Emil grows into recovery                                                                         

Twelve months ago Emil Maresch (49) arrived on the steps of the Fresh Start Recovery Programme in Subiaco as

a drunk on the road to self destruction.

Today, thanks to naltrexone treatment, the former slaughterman is transforming his life in a personal battle of the binge while living at Fresh Start’s Northam rehabilitation facility.

As he flourishes, so does his remarkable Garden of Eden - out of the harsh, double- gee riddled, crusty earth he has created Emil’s Patch, a country oasis of tomatoes, honey dew melon, sweet potato, corn, rock melon, water melon, chilli, lettuce, cucumber, and capsicum.

Both Emil’s journey, and the garden, are maturing.          

“Developing the rehab garden has given me a leadership role and is good therapy,” Emil said.

Emil was a foster child from 10 years of age. From 18 years, alcohol has controlled his life.

“Alcohol has made a terrible mess of my life. I would drink four bottles of beer and a four-litre cask of cheap wine a day. I lost my money, my friends, my teenage children and my wife. We divorced two years ago,” Emil said.

“I drove to Albany looking for work but got picked up for drunk driving, again. The scary part is I could have killed somebody because I put my car into a ditch and nearly killed myself.”

Then Emil met Susanne Flowers at Albany Community First.

“She said I needed to see Dr George O’Neil at Fresh Start Recovery Programme. . .(click here to read the whole story).

Fresh Start Research finds Implants Save Lives

Fresh Start in collaboration with the University of Western Australia has carried out research on over 3800 patients treated at the Clinic between 1997 and 2009 with oral and implant naltrexone. 

The research found that mortality was dramatically reduced in patients treated with implant naltrexone as compared to those treated with oral naltrexone. The difference in mortality rate was most apparent in the first 4 months following induction onto treatment. During this four month period, rates of opiate overdose death in oral naltrexone patients were 25 times more that of implant naltrexone patients. 

The use of implant naltrexone appears to mitigate some of the problems associated with the oral preparation, giving patients a safer alternative for those who wish to become opiate free.

Click here to view the full research article online