Drunk, violent and out of control: How one Worthing man turned his life around
IT took an horrific car crash and near death for a former Worthing criminal to change his life for the better.
Warren Leake's family were told he had severe brain damage and just two hours to live after the BMW he was driving while drunk crashed into a 6ft flint wall between Heene Road and Boundary Road in October, 2005.
Now, three years later, Warren, 25, wants to warn other Worthing youngsters how easy it is for life to spiral out of control.
Untouchable
"I was in and out of prison before the accident," he said.
"I went to court three times a week.
"I'd been done for drink offences, assaulting police officers and I'd been banned for driving.
"You feel untouchable but don't realise what you're getting into."
Better place
Warren, who said he was first arrested aged 11, added: "Bad boys and bad people think they have a good life, but they don't know true happiness.
"I'm in a much better place now even with disabilities and I don't ever want to go back to that life."
Warren, a father-of-two, was a groundworker before the crash, which happened while he was banned from driving.
"I'd been drinking at the pub all day and got behind the wheel and I can't remember anything else about the crash," he said.
"I just didn't care about any of my actions, I was a different person then."
Paralysed
Passenger Jeff Bentley from Durrington was left paralysed from the waist down after the crash.
Warren's mother Sandra McCann, of Whitebeam Road, Durrington, said doctors told her Warren's brain was so badly damaged there was nothing they could do.
"When he was moved to intensive care we just waited for him to die," she said.
"Then the hospital asked me about organ donation, I had no idea as we had never discussed it."
A week later, neurosurgeons told Sandra, 47, that Warren would never leave hospital and would never be able to walk, talk or even breathe for himself.
Strong-willed
She added: "But weeks passed and he was still alive, amazingly.
"He also needed operations after his lungs collapsed and he contracted MRSA but he got through it and spent more than eight months in hospital altogether.
"He is such a strong-willed person with sheer determination.
"If doctors could see him now I'm sure they would be in shock at Mr Miracle Man, as that's what he is to us."
Warren, who now lives in Lyndhurst Road, said he has had to distance himself from his old friends, some of whom are in prison, for fear he will be dragged back into his old life.
Different life
He added: "Back then I was looking at a seven-year prison sentence after I smashed a bottle into a guy's face. He had to have 50 stitches.
"I'm not proud of what I did, I can't change it now but I can be thankful that I am a different person.
"People can make their own choices in life, you don't have to do bad things.
"Now I'm in my own flat, I go to the gym three times a week and I'm finally making real progress with my walking.
"I want to tell people about my story and write a book about my life, before and after.
"I'm looking for someone to help me put it together and for a publisher.
"If it helps someone else lead a better life, then that's great."
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Weather for Worthing
Tuesday 29 May 2012
Today
Light rain
Temperature: 11 C to 21 C
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