Young entrepreneur creates gambling safety app - after addict dad left family penniless

dailystar.co.uk:

A young entrepreneur left to foot the family bills after his father’s secret gambling addiction left them penniless has sold a safety app back to the industry in a bid to stop millions from falling victim.Adam Bradford was just 20 when he received a devastating phone call to say his dad was on his way to prison - after stealing over £50,000 from his employer and racking up £500,000 worth of debt.Totally unaware of his dad’s 30-year addiction to slot machines and online betting, Adam spent years paying off his father's debts, before turning his attention to reforming the gambling industry.Adam, who was diagnosed with autism aged 11, has sold his safety app “Bet Protect” to a global gambling body, and will see it embedded in top online betting sites across Europe, Asia, Africa and America.It comes just a week after Gambling Minister Chris Philp said “reform is undoubtedly long overdue”, and told how the government white paper on the industry would be out next month.Adam, one of only three people in the UK to receive the Queen’s Young Leader Award, said: “When we got the phone call from dad’s lawyer to say he’d gone to prison, we had no idea what for - mum just got off the phone and said “he’s gone”.“It was only when I discovered the paperwork that I saw the house had been re-mortgaged as much as it possibly could, it was actually in negative equity.“He’d racked up £500,000 worth of debt and had stolen £53,000 from his employer, hence why he was being sent to jail.“I effectively became a one-man debt management company.

I basically prevented things from completely collapsing, sold the car, saw solicitors and made sure we had a roof over our head.