A father who was hooked on £1,500-a-weekend cocaine binges is now sober for the first time in 18 years — and credits his success to a daily five-minute ice bath.
Lewis Milton, 36, began going to casinos to gamble and drink — and ultimately take cocaine — aged 18, alongside mates he played football with. The dad-of-one, from Dagenham, East London, rapidly became dependent — gambling, drinking and snorting away £3,000 given to him by his family within just days.
The ex-recruitment account manager even stole his parents' credit cards and pawned his grandmother's jewellery to finance his addictions. Despite attempting to get clean 'at least 15 times', he consistently returned to drugs — losing multiple jobs and squandering thousands of pounds.
From addiction to rock bottom
Throughout the years, Lewis was arrested for violent conduct, admitted to hospital with liver damage, experienced decaying teeth and became suicidal and homeless after his relationships with family and friends collapsed. However, in 2025, Lewis learnt about cold water therapy as a method of addiction support — and he chose to try it to achieve sobriety.
He claims the six-degree water in the inflatable plunge pool in his back garden delivers a jolt which lessens his anxiety and centres him. Lewis has now remained clean and sober for more than 100 days — and credits his progress to his ice bath treatment.
He said: 'I remember being 17 and going into the bookies with my older football friends — I hit a big win one time and from there I fell into gambling. I ended up out every weekend, drinking to fit in and taking cocaine — and soon it became one continuous binge for seven days and nights without sleep.'
He added: 'I stole credit cards, pawned my nan's jewellery, lost my job for not showing up, and racked up debts with dealers. I would go days without eating — just smoking 20-25 joints a day. I was numb to everything. I was waiting for something like a heart attack to happen — I didn't see a way out, or how I would ever stop.'
The spiral continues
When Lewis first began socialising with his football friends, casual trips to the pub quickly descended into casino visits, where drinking, cocaine use and gambling became a weekly occurrence. Before long, it had gone beyond being 'just a bit of fun' and had become something he felt he couldn't do without.
Lewis said: 'I came into £3,000 from family and I remember having no control — within days I had spunked all the money. I started stealing mum and dad's credit cards when I ran out of money — I would claim the winnings in cash and try to pay it back before they noticed. But eventually their cards started declining — and that, coupled with the drink and drugs, got me kicked out my home.'
Lewis would regularly borrow money from friends with no intention of repaying them, while at the same time accumulating substantial debts with drug dealers. He recalled: 'Once, I won £5k from a £20 bet in the bookies and within two hours it was all gone. It got nasty. Once my dad had to pay back £2,500 to a dealer who threatened to kill me if I didn't get the money back to him.'
He first came into contact with Gambling Anonymous and Alcoholics Anonymous at the age of 24. He even managed to stay clean for 88 days — and believed he had conquered his demons — until he relapsed with a seven-day 'bender' alone, with no sleep.
Matters worsened when he began consuming marijuana more heavily — which rendered him 'angry, aggressive and a horrible person.' He said: 'I would kick and throw things, once my mum went upstairs and called the police and I was arrested. I went apesh*t.'
He spent barely any time with his daughter, now two, following her birth in April 2024 — as he was on a 'bender' having lost his most recent job. Lewis was admitted to hospital in June 2025 suffering from liver damage, a hernia, and jaundice. That same year, he was barred from his football ground for smuggling in drugs.
Turning point: the ice bath
He confessed: 'I was in such a destructive mode. I would smoke a joint and have a cup of tea, that's all I took in for weeks.'
His watershed moment ultimately arrived when he was introduced to ice plunging through a clip he came across of Wim Hof on social media, and he decided to give it a go.
In a bid to help his son achieve sobriety, Lewis's father bought him a plunge pool as a Christmas gift in 2025 — and come January he began attending Fellowship meetings once more. He became sober for good on January 30 and hasn't looked back.
He now sees his two-year-old daughter, Marla-May, on a regular basis. He also got dentures to replace his damaged teeth and started eating a nutritious diet which has helped him return to a healthy weight.
He undertakes a five-minute daily ice plunge — and discovered it helps suppress cravings due to the cold shock. Lewis is still repaying £10k of debts accumulated from gambling and drug use — but insists he's now on the right path.
He remarked: 'I feel incredible — I feel so proud, I don't even know how I've done it, but I have. Once, I could never be without a pocket flask of Jack Daniels and I was taking a minimum of five grams of cocaine a day. Now, my life is so different — I get goosebumps thinking about it.'
