'Compo cash made me an alcoholic - I slept with a bag of cans like it was a teddy'
manchestereveningnews.co.ukSam Hancock was eight when he fell from his maisonette balcony in Collyhurst. He was fixing his bike when he leant on a broken glass pane and plunged 25ft to the ground.
Miraculously, Sam was left unharmed. The Helly Hansen jacket he was wearing at the time protected him from serious injury. The puffer coat saved his life.
But that brush with death would later lead him down a path of self-destruction – one that would see him drink up to 30 cans of alcohol a day. READ MORE: 'I was always the party girl - no one knew the dark truth I was hiding' "I used to sleep with a bag of cans like it was a teddy," Sam told the Manchester Evening News. "It was unbelievable." Sam and his family received a compensation pay-out of around £2,700 following the incident.
The money was put in a trust fund and Sam was able to access the cash once he turned 18. It all went downhill from there. Sam, now 30, used the small fortune to enjoy nights out with friends.
Read more on manchestereveningnews.co.uk