Waking up in a hospital bed after an almost fatal overdose of heroin should have been a wake up call for Sophie. But it wasn't enough - only through the power of prayer was she able to finally break free.

Life wasn't always so dramatic for Sophie Barrett. She grew up in rural Somerset, before moving to Oxford, and, in her own words, "had everything" she wanted. Her father was "always a manager of some kind, usually to do with cars", which meant holidays and private schools for Sophie and her two brothers. She enjoyed school when she was younger, but describes herself "as a bit of a loner" in secondary school.

After finishing her GCSEs and excelling in art, photography and textiles, Sophie, who was 17 at the time, went on to study at the London School of Fashion. It should have been an adventure, but she found herself often drawn back to Oxford to see her new boyfriend. "I think if I hadn't met him, I would've loved living in London," says Sophie "But he was my first boyfriend and I just wanted to spend all my time with him."

Her interest in her studies slipped away and by the end of her first year, she was asked to leave - to the disappointment of her parents.

"I became more and more involved with him and his friends," recalls Sophie. "So when I realised they were smoking heroin, I started to as well. I was accepted by them and it felt great to be part of something."

Growing up in a sheltered, comfortable home like Sophie's made her excited by her boyfriend's rougher lifestyle on the edges of crime. Before too long, smoking wasn't enough to satisfy her addiction: she started injecting heroin.

From then on, Sophie's life started to unravel quickly. Her growing need for heroin led her to start stealing. She was fired from countless jobs after getting caught.

"It was the last straw for my parents when they found out I'd been stealing from them," says Sophie, "They told me to leave, so I moved in with my boyfriend. They couldn't believe it - I think they just didn't know how to deal with it."

It was in her boyfriend's flat that Sophie experienced her brush with death. She'd locked herself in the bathroom when she'd wanted "a fix". The door had to be broken down and Sophie was rushed to hospital. The next thing she knew she was looking into the worried eyes of her father, from a hospital bed. According to a doctor, she died for three seconds.

"What happened did shock me," admits Sophie, "But my need for heroin was stronger. I still couldn't pull myself away."

Years down the line, by this time a single mother with two young children, Sophie had reached a point of desperation. She knew she needed to give up heroin but she had tried and failed many times.

Then - stranger than fiction - Ozzy Osbourne came to her rescue.

Sophie was watching TV; something the singer said struck her. He was explaining how, after years of alcohol addiction, he had prayed that he would wake up in the morning and be free of it.

"I decided to try it. So I prayed, still not really sure who God was or if I believed in him," says Sophie, "but after that, things started to change."

Not long after Sophie cried out to God, she got moved to a different area of Oxford. For her, it was a new start, a clean break, a chance to pull away from the group of people and the drug that had defined her life for so many years.

Soon after, Sophie met Becky at a mums and toddlers group. They found they had a lot in common. "I could really relate to her," recalls Sophie.

Becky was a Christian; when it came up in conversation, Sophie was interested. So Becky took her along to Living Faith, one of the Jesus Fellowship's Christian community houses in Oxford. The people there were "so loving and accepting" that Sophie found they helped her reach the strength she needed to fully come off heroin.

"It was like a door had been closed, and I knew there was no way I would ever go back," says Sophie. "Without God, and without friends like Becky, I could never have done it."

Meeting the Jesus Fellowship stirred up the faith that had been growing in Sophie's heart for a while, and six months after meeting Becky and her husband, Michael, she decided to get baptised.

"It all made sense really," says Sophie "For some people it takes a while to get to that point, but not for me. I knew what God had brought me out of and that made everything clear."

At her baptism, Sophie felt the reality of being baptised into a family and saw it as her chance to leave the past behind her for good.

Once she'd taken that step, Sophie went from strength to strength. "This is where I'm supposed to be" she realised. After staying there most weekends, Sophie eventually moved into Living Faith. "I can call it home now," she reflects, "There've been ups and downs, of course, but now, I could never imagine living on my own. I love it."

Four years on, and Sophie works as part of a team in the house to cook, clean, and "make the house a home". Her children have many friends and positive role models and Sophie enjoys expressing God's life through poems, songs and art.

"I wanted to be accepted and loved," says Sophie "and I went about it in the wrong way, which just landed me in pain. God's changed that. There's been a lot of healing, and I'm sure there's more to come." "I'm learning to accept myself, and the fact that God loves me. That's what I want to show the young people in Oxford, and my kids; that God loves them and accepts them."