Former Carlton and Richmond player Chris Yarran has revealed how drug addiction ruined his football career and his life.
The 26-year-old played 119 matches with the Blues before crossing to Tigerland at the end of 2015.
He never played a game for Richmond and returned to Perth last year, and has detailed his battle with ice addiction in a revealing video posted on YouTube.
“By the eighth year (of my career) – that was when my life started to fall apart,” Yarran said.
“I was introduced to methamphetamines by a family member.
“Drugs were something I despised my whole life.
“I remember as I was about to try ice, I said to myself: This will either be just a good night, or it will ruin me.
“It ruined me.
“It destroyed my relationship, my career, my finances, my health, physically and mentally. Physically I went from a fit, healthy athlete to a slob.
“I stacked on the weight, and that’s when I started to miss training, because I didn’t want to be seen in the messed-up state I was in.
“I would be awake for days, and that started to take a toll.
“I remember sitting in my bathroom for hours smoking meth, isolating myself from everyone, and that’s when my mind would take over.
“Once I didn’t get a kick out of smoking, that’s when I started injecting it.”
Yarran said that he had a four-week stay in a rehab clinic that cost him $1000 per night, but that did little to change his behaviour.
“The day I walked out, I was back on meth.”
The talented swingman said that his life didn’t get back on track until he “found god” at Potters House Christian Fellowship Church.
“The moment I accepted Jesus Christ as my lord and saviour, everything changed,” he said.
“The darkness was gone, replaced with a light that gives me joy and peace.”