Rob Delaney reflects on his ‘unrecognisable’ life after 20 years of sobriety
The actor has marked two decades of recovery.
Rob Delaney has marked 20 years of sobriety by reflecting on how his life is now “unrecognisable” after previously being in jail and a wheelchair.
The Catastrophe star, 45, previously revealed that he was prompted to give up drinking after being involved in a car crash which saw him detained by police with two broken arms.
In a video message posted to Twitter on Friday, Delaney said his life is “better now” after receiving support which allowed him to create a family and pursue the career he wanted.
He said: “Hi there, as of today I have been sober for 20 years, which is a long time – It’s almost two decades.
“And I’m shocked and overwhelmed and grateful.
“20 years ago I was in jail in a wheelchair and now I’m on a couch, with a lovely quilt and my life is unrecognisable.”
The actor and comedian continued: “I got a lot of help from a lot of wonderful people. I started doing volunteer work after I’d been sober for a while and through that I met my wife 18 years ago, and we’ve had so many children together.
“And I had the courage to pursue the career that I really wanted to.
“Things are better now, I’m not hungover, I’m not wondering if I’m in the beginning throws of schizophrenia because my desire to drink was so palpable it was like personified, it felt like a thing in me being like ‘drink’, and I don’t have that anymore.”
Delaney shared a message of support to those who are also battling addiction, adding: “So I just wanted to say thank you to everybody who’s helped me and let people who might be struggling with drugs or alcohol know that there is a way out, and if it happened for me it can happen for you. Love to everyone.”
The actor has often shared messages with his social media followers marking milestones in his recovery.
Last year, he recalled an incident in which he crashed his car into a building owned by the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power while being “blacked out”.
The Irish-American actor, who was born in Boston, Massachusetts, said being sober allowed him to fully grieve the death of his son, Harry, two, with cancer in 2018.
