Fraser Franks is living a different life today.
Less than a day goes by when the ex-Newport captain isn't up at the crack of dawn, heading to the gym or braving the chill of the Irish Sea for a swim to refresh himself.
Three years after retiring from football, he was berated by his teammates for being in the best shape of his life after returning from a retreat.
Everything is rosy on the surface. He has had to fight his way to this point in his life.
One day in March, the battle started. Franks was forced to retire from his career due to a heart condition.
He told Sky Sports' Dan Long that he had no symptoms until that moment.
I have an enlarged aorta, which I will have to have open heart surgery on one day. I will have to take blood thinners for the rest of my life because my valve has started leaking more than they thought and I will need a mechanical carbon fibre valve.
I have never had a symptom since, which is an amazing thing.
If my knee was killing me or my back was killing me, I would almost accept it more, but I feel like I can still work out. I still think I could still do it.
He turned to alcohol to numb the pain after the profession he had worked so hard to break into was suddenly ripped from beneath him.
It was a traumatic experience to retire. When I was a kid, my world was dominated by a match day and performing on the football pitch. I had no idea how to deal with it.
My wife was about to give birth for the first time and I didn't know what to do. I couldn't sleep because I couldn't switch off the chatterbox voice in my head.
One day, I realized I didn't have training the next day, so I could have a few beers. I entered that pattern. I felt the voice switch off when I had a few beers. I thought if I had two or three beers that would make me sleepy, I wouldn't be so anxious.
It turned into a medication. I ended up drinking six or seven beers and doing things I regret, but it was all because I was trying to escape my feelings.
After hanging up his boots, Franks' drinking became critical.
He confessed that he had a problem that needed to be fixed immediately.
If I knew that the highlights programme was coming on and everyone was going to see me make a mistake, I would use alcohol as a way to cope, but in retirement I couldn't get out of it.
During the day, I was trying to work out what I was going to do for a career, but from the outside, it looked like I was doing well. I was almost self-destructing in the evening.
I told my mother and wife that I'd been drinking a lot. I would sit up on my own drinking when my wife went to sleep. She was not aware of that. I could go for a jog and try to hide it from her.
Sometimes, when I'd work away, I'd love going into a hotel room on my own, going to a supermarket, and just sitting there drinking and feeling terrible the next day. I unloaded on them because they weren't aware that I was doing this. I said I wanted to stop drinking, but I didn't know how I would function without it.
I might have been in a depressed state. I didn't see anything to be excited about. I didn't feel like my best days were yet to come. I didn't feel like I was living up to what I'd done before.
Franks needed to change his life for the better and talking about his problems gave him the catharsis he needed.
He will mark one year of sober living on August 1st.
He admitted that he had to keep pressing the self-destruct button or he would have been damaged or stopped drinking alcohol.
It took me some time to get used to it. It would take about two weeks for me to give in. I got the help and support I needed, and they appointed me a counsellor with a mental health charity.
I tried counseling after retiring. I didn't think counseling was a good idea because they gave me a guy who I didn't like and I didn't like him.
They gave me a woman in her 60s that used to drink a lot and I thought she was great. I had someone that I could talk to about my experience with counseling. She had good advice when she was starting to stop drinking.
He hasn't drunk alcohol in a year and a half, what benefits has he found from being sober?
It has given me a lot of confidence. When I had a couple of drinks, I was quite confident, but without it, I was really shy and timid, so I had to try and build that confidence without a drink.
I was more authentic when I was sober because I was almost two different people. I wanted to be a better father and I found that I slept better and ate better. I was going to the park on a Sunday morning full of energy, whereas before I'd be going there out of guilt and hung over.
After six months of sharing my own story, I started getting people to connect with me. People were reaching out to me and asking for help.
It was a purpose that I had lost through playing football. It was my entire life. Since I've come away from it, I've been helping people deal with their emotions and dealing with the need to flee.
He joined Alcohol Change UK because he wanted to help a society that was free from the harm caused by alcohol.
He was made an ambassador in May.
He didn't like the term alcoholic and got involved in it.
A lot of people with alcohol problems don't do anything about it because they don't see themselves as alcoholics.
People cannot moderate their drinking. People make a lot of mistakes when drinking. They don't want to keep going, but they don't have a way out. The majority of us want to drink less, but we get swept up in the moment and can't drink again.
Community is important to me. I found a lot of people that have been through the same things I have been through on social media. When I started sharing my story, people started getting in touch and people started sharing some of the things that I was posting and that led to a conversation with Alcohol Change UK.
I want to help as many people as I can. I'm going to start talking to businesses about alcohol in the workplace because it's huge.
People who work for businesses want to be healthy and happy. It's in their best interests to look after their people, but it's also in their best interests to lose money due to sick days.
I am going into work in talking to players and coaching staff about alcohol and about how to relax.
I would like to show people that being sober isn't boring. My life is a lot more interesting. A lot of people want to do that, but can't because of alcohol.
There is a long-term goal. Education in sports and beyond. Franks doesn't want people to be forced to change, just to make an informed decision of their own.
It isn't about banning alcohol or banning players from drinking. Instead of banning someone from drinking alcohol, they could educate them, support them and make their own minds up.
I won't ever preach or judge to anyone. I don't want to say you shouldn't drink. It has to come from those that go sober or cut down on drinking. People will come to me and say they want to do the same thing if I just share and talk about it.
Stan Collymore thinks that football players should not be allowed to drink. The answer is not it. The players need to be able to make their own decisions. They have to choose. A lot of players don't drink during the season, but they will drink in the summer. A lot of people are in clubs. A big drinking culture is hidden away.
If you look at someone like Jack Grealish, the minute he goes out, he gets pictured in a nightclub and he's on the front page of a newspaper. Someone under media scrutiny can't go out and do it, so they will do it at home.
In professional football, I'll give a presentation about how I felt on team nights out, how I bottled emotions, or how I didn't feel confident. Getting criticism from fans is one thing. I didn't bat off that, but it really hurt me. I can't imagine what it would be like in the premier league.
I don't want to trade places with players in the premier league. You can get it from pundits, you can get it from the media, and you can get it from your own fans. Phil Jones wrote in the newspaper that he was getting abuse as he walked with his daughter. I know that alcohol would have taken me away from that.
99% of people will say that Danny Drinkwater is so lucky to be where he is, that they are living everyone else's dream, and everyone would give their right arm to be where he is.
The reason players keep bottled up is because they feel guilty for actually feeling like a normal human being. Where do they go to put things away?
I want to help so much with the emotional well-being of players and being a support service because most of these are normal guys that come from humble beginnings and don't know how to cope with the fame and fortune that comes with it.
I'll let players speak to me on a one-to-one basis after I've left my card or number. I'm helping a few people at the moment.
Franks refers to the vow he made as a child, swearing off alcohol after growing up in a "toxic household" and in the knowledge that it affected performance levels.
He was asked if he felt like this was a fresh start and a chance to become that determined teenager again.
I feel like it's going to start again, going back to the boy who was shy and quiet. I wish I had been strong enough to be myself and not feel like I had to drink to join a group.
I'm a big believer that what I'm doing now wouldn't have happened if I hadn't touched a drop of alcohol.
I'm lucky that I knew about the drinking problem early. I want to make sure people don't go to rock bottom before making a change. I don't want people to lose their possessions. Many people lose their homes, marriages and careers and then decide to stop. As soon as possible address the issue.
All came back when I stopped drinking booze. I wanted to not let my body be filled with rubbish. I wanted to eat well and that made me want to move around a bit more, exercise a little bit more and just have a big knock-on effect.
I take pride in what I feel like. I want to be able to run with my daughter. It's one of the biggest values I have and I didn't know how important it was to me.
Some of our toughest times and biggest challenges can offer the biggest opportunities. The pain can be turned into a purpose.
Whatever your circumstances, Fraser Franks is proof that you can change for the better.
You can contact the Samaritans on the free hotline 116 123 if you want to talk about mental wellbeing issues.
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