SHE left Mandurah for more than 10 years to free herself from her drug addiction.
But Nikki Warwick has finally returned to the city where it all began.
In a photo taken on her 21st birthday, a young Nicole stands next to a train wearing sunglasses, a leather coat and a small smile.
“The night before had been pretty bad,” she said.
“I had a broken thumb when this was taken because I’d gotten into a really big fight.
“Photos from this time are few and far between; I pretty much disappeared.”
At the height of her drug addiction Nikki was spending up to $500 per day for five ‘hits’ of speed.
All up she figures she spent about $100,000 in just one year on drugs.
The deterioration of her parents’ relationship when she was 12 years old meant Nikki could do what she liked without consequences.
“I just walked out the door when I was 14 and got taken in by some bikies and that’s where my journey with drugs and violence started,” she said.
“I had Dylan when I was 15, he was born a year before I started using hard drugs but I’d been in the drug scene since I was 14.
“The time was just filled with constant violence, people fighting over the areas they could sell drugs in and who was going to sell what.”
It was a traumatic time for Nikki who said she felt she couldn’t escape.
By the time Dylan was two, Nikki was using heroin and speed and her family had intervened and taken Dylan off her.
“Sometimes I’d have a really good time and make heaps of money but other times I’d just end up paranoid,” she said.
“I wanted my son back and I knew that I needed to get clean but I just didn’t know how.”
“My head was filled with so many violent things people shouldn’t see; I couldn’t see the light at the end of the tunnel.”
She was separated from her family after she was found stashing stolen items and guns at her mother’s house.
Eventually the courts placed her on an intensive supervision order and she was close to going to jail.
“That’s when I found Teen Challenge.” She said.
“It was a centre in Esperance that allowed me to detox and reintegrate back into society.”
Nikki said she finally felt safe being away from Mandurah and she eventually connected with the program.
“I was detoxing cold turkey but my mentor also used to be a drug addict and it helped me see that things could be different,” she said.
During her time at Teen Challenge (TC) Nikki improved so much she was allowed to look after her son again.
After her recovery she stayed on at TC as a mentor for a time and eventually came back to Perth to be closer to her mother.
In 2003 she met her now husband Steve at the church she joined in Southern River and they married three years later.
Nikki has been clean for 12 years now, Dylan is 17 and she has four sons with her husband.
“Life after Teen Challenge just got better and better, I had a vision of my future that I was working towards,” she said.
“It gave me the time and the peace to recover; to enjoy the little things like just going to the beach and to see the good in people.”
Nikki said she now wants to help at places she used to go during her darkest hours.
Moving back to Mandurah was a big step but Nikki and Steve have now set up a Christian church in the Billy Dower Youth Centre.
She’ll be jumping out of a plane at 14,000 feet on November 16 in York to raise awareness about Teen Challenge and the work they do.
“I want to get the name out there so someone can have it as a last resort like I did,” she said.
Nikki has raised more than $680 so far but is still looking for sponsors to reach her goal of $1000.
To donate go to SHE left Mandurah for more than 10 years to free herself from her drug addiction.
But Nikki Warwick has finally returned to the city where it all began.
In a photo taken on her 21st birthday, a young Nicole stands next to a train wearing sunglasses, a leather coat and a small smile.
“The night before had been pretty bad,” she said.
“I had a broken thumb when this was taken because I’d gotten into a really big fight.
“Photos from this time are few and far between; I pretty much disappeared.”
At the height of her drug addiction Nikki was spending up to $500 per day for five ‘hits’ of speed.
All up she figures she spent about $100,000 in just one year on drugs.
The deterioration of her parents’ relationship when she was 12 years old meant Nikki could do what she liked without consequences.
“I just walked out the door when I was 14 and got taken in by some bikies and that’s where my journey with drugs and violence started,” she said.
“I had Dylan when I was 15, he was born a year before I started using hard drugs but I’d been in the drug scene since I was 14.
“The time was just filled with constant violence, people fighting over the areas they could sell drugs in and who was going to sell what.”
It was a traumatic time for Nikki who said she felt she couldn’t escape.
By the time Dylan was two, Nikki was using heroin and speed and her family had intervened and taken Dylan off her.
“Sometimes I’d have a really good time and make heaps of money but other times I’d just end up paranoid,” she said.
“I wanted my son back and I knew that I needed to get clean but I just didn’t know how.”
“My head was filled with so many violent things people shouldn’t see; I couldn’t see the light at the end of the tunnel.”
She was separated from her family after she was found stashing stolen items and guns at her mother’s house.
Eventually the courts placed her on an intensive supervision order and she was close to going to jail.
“That’s when I found Teen Challenge.” She said.
“It was a centre in Esperance that allowed me to detox and reintegrate back into society.”
Nikki said she finally felt safe being away from Mandurah and she eventually connected with the program.
“I was detoxing cold turkey but my mentor also used to be a drug addict and it helped me see that things could be different,” she said.
During her time at Teen Challenge (TC) Nikki improved so much she was allowed to look after her son again.
After her recovery she stayed on at TC as a mentor for a time and eventually came back to Perth to be closer to her mother.
In 2003 she met her now husband Steve at the church she joined in Southern River and they married three years later.
Nikki has been clean for 12 years now, Dylan is 17 and she has four sons with her husband.
“Life after Teen Challenge just got better and better, I had a vision of my future that I was working towards,” she said.
“It gave me the time and the peace to recover; to enjoy the little things like just going to the beach and to see the good in people.”
Nikki said she now wants to help at places she used to go during her darkest hours.
Moving back to Mandurah was a big step but Nikki and Steve have now set up a Christian church in the Billy Dower Youth Centre.
She’ll be jumping out of a plane at 14,000 feet on November 16 in York to raise awareness about Teen Challenge and the work they do.
“I want to get the name out there so someone can have it as a last resort like I did,” she said.
Nikki has raised more than $680 so far but is still looking for sponsors to reach her goal of $1000.
To donate go to livefree14000.everydayhero.com/au/nikki-warwick
