Daughter calls police after mum's actions at graduation left her 'humiliated'

Sharnie Yorke, 50, said an embarrassing incident at her daughter's graduation was the turning point in her life which encouraged her to tackle her alcohol addiction

A daughter decided to call the police after her mum's actions at her university graduation made her feel "humiliated" - and it led to a big change in the woman's life.

Sharnie Yorke, 50, said the incident made her rethink her life choices and encouraged her to tackle her alcohol addiction. She explained that she was "always a big drinker" as she was raised in a family who enjoyed a drink.

However, she said her drinking habits worsened during her divorce and when her children left home. Her daughters, aged 21 and 26, started to beg Sharnie not to drink on evenings out - but during her youngest daughter's graduation, she had prosecco and cocktails, which led to an embarrassing incident.

The healthcare support assistant, from Tenterden, Kent, said the graduation was "the turning point" as she had "so much regret" after it. She told the Liverpool Echo: "My eldest daughter even told me she wouldn't want me looking after my grandson. I used to think my drinking was OK - everyone likes a drink of an evening, but not every night. It was clearly an addiction."

After drinking prosecco cocktails and glasses of wine all evening, Sharnie remembers being "loud and belligerent". And while on her way back to her daughter's flat, she fell, broke her arm and "smashed up her face". She said her daughter wouldn't let her back in the flat - and decided to call the police and her older sister.

Sharnie said: "I remember the ride with the policeman. They said I was fine, but I'd upset my daughters. I was taken to a hotel room for the night. When I woke up, I was feeling very regretful."

She was eventually collected from the hotel by a friend, who encouraged her to go to the hospital for an x-ray on her arm. Doctors confirmed it was broken and she would need to rest for six weeks. The mum-of-two says it was the "wake-up call she needed" as she continued: "It was a huge embarrassment. I was just mortified really - I knew [the drinking] needed to stop."

Talking about her drinking habits growing up, Sharnie said she would go out to "lots" of parties in her late teens and early twenties. But as she got older, her love of a glass of wine at the end of the day turned into a "compulsion" to drink the entire bottle, seven days a week. After a divorce, and her children moving out, Sharnie said she thought the wine "filled a void" in her life.

She added: "The drinking probably got quite a bit worse since my daughters grew up and left home. I started drinking pretty much every evening to fill the void. I went from having a couple of glasses of wine a night to a full bottle. I was drunk, all the time."

Sharnie said she has not had a drink since the day of the graduation and is 106 days sober. She said: "The thought of that night alone made me want to never drink again.

"Not being able to see my grandson was enough for me to stop. I'm more present now - it's nice to wake up feeling fresh. It seems like I might be able to be sober for the rest of my life."