DAVID McCollom thought his addiction would kill him.

Thirteen years ago the Bewsey resident regularly used heroin, crack cocaine and barbiturates and lost part of his left leg to gangrene from an infection caused by injecting himself.

David also lost the use of all of his fingers apart from his right index finger and thumb after scolding himself with boiling water when he was out of it.

"I nearly resigned myself to the fact I was going to die," he said.

But as a last roll of the dice, David made a clean break by leaving Warrington to go to rehab at the Pierpoint Centre in St Annes on Sea.

That was in January 2002 and he has not touched drugs since.

David added: "That was the beginning of my new life. Everything began there.

"It put distance between me and my drug use and coping skills for how I deal with life."

Now David is helping others with their addiction battles by teaching filmmaking.

The 47-year-old studied multimedia and sonic arts at the University of Central Lancashire and set up DMC Media in his last year of study in 2007.

David's story of how he turned his life around even inspired renowned British filmmaker Ken Loach.

He said: "When I was at uni I made a film about my life and I got an award from Ken Loach, who directed Kes.

"I meet people who say they know me because of that and some people have said it inspired them to turn their life around."

David, who is back in Bewsey living with his nan Violet, is now working on a trailer that he hopes to be shown in cinemas across the north west in the summer.

It will show a girl, played by actor Samantha Allen, who has a conversation with a 'shadow of her former self' during a taxi ride.

David has already received £10,000 in Lottery funding towards the project and has set up a deal with Pearl & Dean. He is aiming to raise £40,000.

He added: "We've hired film equipment and have Geoff Owens on board who worked on The Fast and The Furious and Captain America.

"He'll be our cameraman and do the lighting."

But recovering addicts are also part of David's film team.

He said: "They've done the script for it, the storyboards and will help edit the film. They've been part of the process all the way through.

"We hope to have our grand premiere at Odeon Westbrook."

DAVID MORGAN