In country Australia, nobody is talking about alcohol abuse. But Shanna Whan is. There’s no one better qualified to do so than a girl from the country who nearly died in front of her community from alcohol abuse.

Shanna was a journalist and rural photographer by day and an alcoholic by night - her relationship with booze tangled in trauma and fuelled by a socially acceptable and glorified national pastime.

On the precipice of turning forty, Shanna would survive a series of blows that would change her life forever.

This is the story of one woman’s battle with the bottle; how she overcame the guilt and grief she felt when she and her husband were told they wouldn’t have children, what life’s like on the fringes of society as a childless and sober woman in a rural community, and what happens when your road to recovery leads to the birth of a national charity.

So, what happens when you stop drinking and start speaking your truth?

We find out in FORTY.

CREDITS: 

Hosts: Lise Carlaw and Sarah Wills

Guest: Shanna Whan

Instagram: @sober_in_the_country

Australian Story – Shanna’s episode

https://www.abc.net.au/austory/last-drinks/11705194

Producer: Josh Sanders @the_kernal1

CONTACT: 

Email: [email protected]

Instagram: @liseandsarah

Facebook: Those Two Girls  

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.