Welcome to the first episode of “COA Lives”, a new podcast hosted by Jonathan Ashworth, former Labour MP and long-time advocate for children of alcoholics. In this moving conversation, Jonathan speaks with Sarah Drage — a Nacoa ambassador, podcaster, and mental-health advocate whose life changed forever after losing her father, Steve, to alcohol addiction. Sarah opens up about the emotional complexity of loving someone with addiction, the years of gaslighting and denial, the heartbreaking moment she had to decide to switch off her father’s life-support machine, and how that trauma led her into national advocacy work. Together, Jonathan and Sarah explore: What it means to grow up as a Child of an Alcoholic (COA) The guilt, anger, love, and confusion that shape COA families Why stigma kills — and how silence harms families The price of public advocacy, both healing and painful How childhood trauma shapes identity, adulthood, and parenting What breaking generational cycles really looks like This episode is tender, honest, and full of hope for anyone affected by a loved one’s drinking.You are not alone.