A Glasgow man who struggled with drug and alcohol addiction has told how cold water therapy helped keep him sober. Kenny Neilson, from the Milton area of the city had attempted to take his own life and battled with addiction until quitting the booze and substances in November 2021.
The 40 year old has attributed part of his successful road to recovery to exposing himself to extreme cold conditions. He has since founded cold water therapy group Polar Bear Club which has just opened its doors in the Minerva Street area of the city on Saturday, May 13.
Kenny has opened up about his journey from addict to cold water enthusiast. He told Glasgow Live: "I was sober for five years, then I took a drink.
"I drank for the next four years to a point where I tried to end my life.
"After I came out of hospital I was introduced to cold water therapy. I then shut my business down to go on a crazy journey to learn more about cold water therapy.
"I started recording my journey and started a Facebook group called the Polar Bear Club. Slowly but surely people started following my journey."
Kenny says the freezing temperatures send him into a meditative state where he can forget his worries. He continued: "When I went into the cold I found something to focus on.
"When I was an alcoholic I had no control over the drinking. I literally couldn't stop and it is such a strange experience. I'm the person picking up the bottle and drinking but for some reason I had something in me that couldn't stop doing it.
"For me when I went into the water my mind goes blank and I shut off. I could escape the world for five minutes.
"It was in December of 2021 that I started doing it. By embracing the uncomfortable I'm able to use that in my day to day life."
Kenny's efforts caught the eye of world record holder Valerjan Romanovski, who sat in full body contact with ice for three hours and 28 minutes. The Polish national came across to Scotland to push the cold water therapy enthusiast to the limit.
He said: "He put me into a tub of ice and I was in there for 53 minutes, to the point where my internal temperature dropped.
"There was a full medical team there and it was controlled. We were taking people out into cold Scottish water and he wanted us to know what we were dealing with.
"We experienced the warming up process after hypothermia and it was horrendous. He then invited me over to Poland to take part in the ice championship, which is a yearly competition, where I sat in an Ice bucket for one hour 20 minutes.
"We are going to go back to Poland this year to go into the -50C chamber for 24 hours. We are also hoping to hold the championships at our new premises on Minerva Street.
"We want to show people that this can be done without any serious damage."
Polar Bear Club has grown in popularity since the Facebook group was launched and Kenny believes the new facility will take it a step further.
He said: "I never thought it would grow the way it has. It got to a point where my phone was constantly buzzing. Someone I was trying to help took their life last year and that's when I decided to throw everything into this.
"I've spent all my life savings to push this. When I started the cold water therapy I was planning on heading to Stornoway for work but then money never became important any more, I just want to help others."
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