Drink gives a lot of people pleasure, but some individuals pay a terrible price. In the week that the North East Alcohol Office was launched, Health Editor Barry Nelson meets one of its victims.

PETER Ivory is still shocked that it could have happened to him.

The former store manager from Sunderland always regarded himself as a social drinker. From the age of 18, Peter, now 62, loved going out for a boozy night with his friends. As he built a successful career in retail, he continued to enjoy weekend drinks with his colleagues. Drinking seemed a normal part of life and Peter never regarded himself as a particularly heavy or problem drinker.

Most nights he would stop and have a pint on the way home, but he would only let his hair down at weekends. “It just became a habit. I was never a binge-drinker and did not see any harm in a drink or two, or more, after work,” he says.

After 40 years of regular, sustained drinking Peter was on holiday when he started feeling peculiar. “I was on holiday in Spain when I suddenly got this horrendous pain in my abdomen.

It hurt like hell, I was in agony so I got a plane home.”

Once he was back at home, the pain became unbearable and after collapsing he had to be rushed to Sunderland Royal Hospital’s accident and emergency department.

That is where he got the biggest shock of his life. A grim-faced consultant told him that tests had shown that Peter had acute cirrhosis of the liver. His condition was so serious that he was told that one more drink could kill him.

By 2004, Peter’s condition had become so serious he had to be transferred from his local hospital in Sunderland to the specialist liver unit at the Freeman Hospital in Newcastle.

In November 2004, he was put on the organ transplant list and in April 2005 he received a new liver.

While he is hugely grateful to the donor and the skill of the medical staff who gave him a second chance, he is horrified at how a life of steady, unspectacular drinking led to him needing a life-saving transplant. “I drank because I enjoyed it – it was as simple as that,” he says.

While his transplant has given him a new lease of life, Peter, a father of two and grandfather three times over, now suffers from high blood pressure, nerve pain, depression and fluid retention, as well being constantly tired. “The complexity and risks of a transplant are many and should never be considered a ‘get out of jail card’.”

His horror at the impact that longterm social drinking has had on his health and his life has driven Peter to campaign to raise awareness of the hidden dangers of social drinking and drinking in the home. He believes that British society and the lifestyle that goes with it, helped fuel what he now realises is an addiction.

That’s why Peter was a special guest at the launch of the North East Alcohol Office on Wednesday.

THE NEAO is campaigning to change the North-East’s attitudes to alcohol and trying to persuade people to cut down in the interest of individuals and society as a whole.

Apart from health concerns, the agency will work closely with local authorities and police forces to tackle issues such as poor quality of life, violent crime, anti-social behaviour and domestic abuse.

After listening to a succession of speakers as part of a presentation, Peter told delegates: “You have to talk to the people you are trying to help. If you don’t start talking to people like me, then you will never get to where you are trying to get to.”

He believes that people need to be honest with themselves about their alcohol intake and, if necessary, admit they have a problem with booze. “Making that decision is the most important factor in giving up before it is too late. Until that point is reached, anyone else’s efforts are useless. Lying to themselves and those they care about is pointless. It has to come from within, then others can provide all the support needed.”

One of the hardest-hitting speeches at the launch, held at Darlington Football Club, was made by the Durham Chief Constable, Jon Stoddart.

Making the point that alcohol turns ordinary, law-abiding people into criminals, he showed a short video of a vicious street brawl in the streets of a North-East town. A pack of young men are shown kicking and stamping on another man lying prone on the pavement.

“These are ordinary guys who have had far too much to drink and become aggressive,” Mr Stoddart said. Our “love affair with alcohol”

is responsible for around one million crimes in the North-East every year alone, he added. “We have videos which are far worse than that.”

While alcohol-related youth disorder is the biggest single call on police time in Durham, domestic violence against women and children linked to booze is another huge issue.

“Nearly half of all incidents of domestic abuse in the region are thought to be committed under the influence of alcohol,” said Mr Stoddart.

He also drew attention to the shocking case of a North-East father, who was jailed for 12 years for attempted murder last May. He tried to stab his estranged wife to death with a hunting knife after a drinking binge. He was only prevent by the bravery of his 12-year-old daughter, who struggled with her father until her mother could get away. “No 12- year-old girl should have to put her life in jeopardy to save someone she loves. We need to change our culture and change our attitudes to drink.”

PETER Ivory passionately hopes the new Alcohol Office will help to change attitudes in what is one of the hardest-drinking regions in the country. But he says drinking is so ingrained in our culture it will not be easy.

“It’s become a way of life – young people don’t realise the severity of their actions. It’s progressive – children see their parents drink, they drink and, of course, it is now simple for anyone to get their hands on alcohol.”

However, he believes that education is the answer rather than taking a harder line. “Shock tactics will not work. Education and a real awareness of the risks are the answer.”