David was just 21 when he was offered heroin in prison after finding out his newborn son had died.
Andrea was stuck in a cycle of abuse and drug addiction which resulted in her son being taken into care.
And Shaun was left homeless and sleeping in parks after his addiction to heroin spiralled out of control.
All three have spent years struggling to overcome the hold drugs have had on their lives, fighting for decades to regain the control they lost to their addiction.
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But thanks to their work with Paisley charity Street Connect, they are on the way to transforming themselves for the better.
The organisation set up in the town in November last year, and has since engaged with hundreds of people.
David, Andrea and Shaun are three of those people who have bravely shared their stories with the Express in the hope they can help other people facing the same struggles.
Paisley man David was standing in the queue at the chemist to get his methadone prescription when he got chatting to one of the Street Connect volunteers.
Now aged 46, he had spent 20 years addicted to heroin after being offered it by a fellow inmate in HMP Barlinnie.
While serving a six-year sentence, he had just been told the tragic news that his son had died shortly after he was born.
And in the throes of his grief he thought the drug would “numb the pain.”
“Once I took it, I never looked back,” David said.
“My partner at the time was pregnant and when I was in prison she got caught up in addiction and taking cocaine.
“My son was only four hours old when he died. And that was the result of that.
“There was nothing I could do.
“I got out of prison and then there I was 20 years later. It’s not a difficult route to fall into. It’s too easy.
“I stopped talking to my family and totally changed my circle of friends.
“I have been in and out of jail, but I’m glad to say I haven’t been in jail for 15 years now, so I must be doing something right.”
David is now focused on maintaining his recovery after spending years trying to find his way through his issues.
Stints in rehab didn’t work for him, and neither did a methadone prescription - so he decided to make a change.
He added: “Coming to Street Connect has made such a big difference to me.
“Even just sitting down and talking to someone really helps me.
“It’s been harder for me to deal with the issues which led to the addiction.
“Drugs are an easy out rather than staying sober and facing reality.
“All the drugs do is mask it. The problems are still there when you sober up. I spent so long on a maintenance prescription and it didn’t work for me.
“It was really tough to come off it and it took a lot of willpower.
“That was something I never had before, I was always chasing my next bag.
“I feel like I have come on leaps and bounds so I hope I can keep it up.”
Shaun is also working hard on his recovery and now hopes to get into rehab next year to help him continue his journey to stay free of drugs.
He says he feels it was meant to be when he found Street Connect.
The 39-year-old read an article in the Paisley Daily Express on the organisation, and just days later he was stopped by one of their volunteers on the street.
He took it as a sign and has never looked back.
The Paisley man had been living in London, and lost himself in heroin and Valium addiction after falling in with the wrong crowd.
He ended up homeless and sleeping in parks before his mum travelled to the UK capital to find him and bring him home.
Shaun has now been free of drugs for three years, and says Street Connect helped him maintain his sobriety thanks to the support from the staff and volunteers.
He hopes to one day be a drug support worker to help people like him.
Shaun said: “It took me more than ten times to do this.
“I would get sober and then one thing would happen and I would slip back into it.
“Now I have a handle on it. This is the best I have done.
“This keeps me on the straight and narrow. I come here whenever I need a chat.
“I have met people here and I have brought people with me.
“I would like to be a drug worker in the future.
“I know what it’s like to go through it and would like to help people like the guys here have helped me.”
Mum-of-two Andrea uses her experience to help other women she can see shades of her past self in.
She attends the Street Connect women’s group, and has been coming along to the charity for 10 months.
Having began her recovery four years ago, even spending a year at a residential rehab, she has transformed her life and says she would be dead if she hadn’t changed.
She had been living a chaotic and drug-filled life for many years alongside her partner, who was also abusive.
Trying to deal with her issues on her own was getting her nowhere, and when social workers found drugs in her 12-year-old’s room, Andrea says she knew she had to make some heartbreaking choices to sort her life out.
“I was never taking heroin every day, but I was taking every other street drug I could,” she said.
“I always thought I was in control.
“But you are never in control when it comes to addiction.
“I knew I had to do something so I put my son into a children’s unit and I went away.
“I realised when I sobered up that I barely knew my son.”
Her recovery also led to doctors discovering that Andrea had a serious kidney disease, and her kidneys had been functioning at just four per cent.
She added: “If I hadn’t changed then I would be dead.
“And I would have been lying in my house and no one would have known what had happened to me.
“Because that is the type of person I was.”
Andrea says she is now happier than she has ever been, and now has a wonderful relationship with her youngest son, who is back home living with her.
Her inspirational story is a beacon of hope for other young women who come through the doors at Street Connect.
And while she is further on in her recovery than most at the group, the 43-year-old says everyone is dedicated to supporting one another.
Andrea added: “These groups really helped me and they really help the girls that come along.
“It’s good for us to meet and support each other and talk about life.
“When you are caught up in the life of addiction, you use all your values and your social skills.
“We are trying to encourage them and tell them that life just doesn’t need to be this way.”
