Dan was a huge fan of the Frisbee when he was a young boy, say his parents. He was also in the Beavers and the Cubs, was mad about Judo and loved quad biking. He was bright, happy and popular and his school predicted that he would get As and Bs at GCSE last summer. That was before the drug-taking played havoc with his mind. His relationship with his parents became so bad that he moved out to live with friends.

After Redcliff, Dan moved back into his old bedroom at home with his parents. He kicked drugs and enrolled on a Prince's Trust outward bound course.

Within minutes of arriving back at his parents' home in Surrey, Dan was plunged into the environment which his parents felt was a cause of his problems. His old friends were there offering him cigarettes and worse.

'I think my parents weren't sure whether I would be alright or whether I would jump back,' Dad says, looking back. Dan didn't lurch back to his old ways. To the contrary, he says, 'My relationship with my parents is a hundred times better, but then I am also a hundred times better as well.' He is still living at home with his parents.

One year after Brat Camp, Dan is working as drugs counsellor and he is training other drugs workers. 'I was one of those people that went through a lot because of drugs and there's a small minority of kids like that and I'd like to help them,' Dan explains.

Dan is keen for the positive message of his experience at Redcliff to be remembered. He wants to use his knowledge of looking into the abyss to help other people. 'I was very lucky,' he says.

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Find out what a different experience Brat Camp was for the group in series 2.

See also:
Fran, James and Rachael