LIKE many teenagers today, Matt Maden always enjoyed a drink with his mates.

But it was when he started drinking first without his mates, then during the day, then first thing in the morning, that things began to get out of hand.

Matt’s drinking quickly spiralled out of control and his dependency on alcohol led to him walking out of his job, burning bridges with his family and, eventually, being admitted to hospital after his liver shut down.

He spent ten weeks in hospital, two of them in an alcohol-induced coma, and is now on the waiting list for a liver transplant.

Having turned his life around, Matt, now 26, is keen to speak out about his experiences in a bid to stop others ending up in a similar situation.

He has recently filmed the Inside Out: Dry December programme for the BBC in which nine presenters, including Radio One’s Scott Mills, gave up drinking for the festive period.

“It started off as a social thing after work with my friends from the age of about 15 onwards,” said Matt, who lives in Springbourne, Bourne-mouth.

“But from the age of about 19 onwards the drink sort of took over. I wasn’t really drinking with my friends any more. Everyone else was going away and getting lives for themselves, getting their careers and going to university. But the only thing that appealed to me was drinking.”

Although Matt recognised that the alcohol was now controlling him, rather than the other way around, he incorrectly believed he could handle it.

Despite still being able to function as an alcoholic, Matt eventually walked out of his job and, despite the concerns of his family and friends, carried on drinking.

“Close friends and family members were saying I didn’t look right,” he remembered.

“But I just carried on because I felt okay, especially after I’d had a few drinks, I felt on top of the world. There was no series of events that I recall. I just woke up in hospital.”

In May 2007 Matt collapsed at home after his liver shut down and was discovered by his brother. He was rushed to hospital and spent two weeks in an alcohol-induced coma before having a stent fitted in his liver to bypass the blockage caused by the alcohol.

He spent a total of ten weeks in hospital, during which time he took a serious look at his life.

“One of my first thoughts when I woke up was ‘it can’t be the drink’,” he said.“Because I was young, I thought this didn’t happen to young people. But that time in hospital really gave me time to think. Within myself I thought ‘Matt, do something sensible with your life’.”

Matt was offered a place at a treatment centre and spent six months in rehab.

Since leaving the centre in January 2008, he has worked hard to get his life back on track and stay away from the alcohol and now even has a job and a driving licence.

But the effects of his drinking are permanent – Matt has been on the list for a liver transplant for the last six months.

While his situation is extreme, it is becoming more common, according to Dr Varuna Aluvihare, liver specialist at King’s College Hospital, London, where Matt is treated.

“Ten to 15 years ago I would have said Matt’s case was extremely rare,” he said.

“People with Matt’s level of liver damage from alcohol used to present in their 50s and 60s. But now, at any one time, we have one or two patients of Matt’s age who have damaged their liver due to excess alcohol.

“If you come to see me in the transplant centre you’re in big trouble. But the vast majority of these people have very little idea that they had a problem. It’s a silent disease.”

Both Dr Aluvihare and Matt hope the programme they took part in will help to highlight the issue among young people.

“I would like to see more people talking about it, it becoming less of a taboo subject,” said Matt.

“We are talking not just life changing for the person involved, but life changing for the family members, for friends. If this helps one person then it’s worth it.”

• Inside Out: Dry December is on BBC One South on Monday January 9 at 7.30pm.