A Homecoming

An 8-year-old's life was thrown into chaos when his home life became toxic

The boy was eight years old. His father was an out-of-control alcoholic. The situation at home had become so toxic that youth services had to remove the boy from his family and place him in a shelter. The boy refused to stay and kept running back to his mother, each time being dragged back to the shelter by the police. Finally, after being unable to protect her son or herself, the mother had a nervous breakdown.

With nowhere left to go, the boy was placed in a foster home, which only intensified his desperation. He continued running away, began stealing, and was spiralling out of control until, finally, at age 12, he had to be placed in lockdown.

That was when the mother approached Lifeline for help. The father had slipped deeper into alcoholism and her son was becoming entangled in the legal and youth systems. She was losing hope of ever having her son back. She was desperately in need of support, having heard we offer services not only for addicts, but for their families as well. Her greatest hope was her son would be willing to take the most important first step of talking to one of our counsellors.

Two years later, the mother and the son are living together once again. The son is now 14 and a different person. After travelling a painful and difficult road, the two have healed many of their deep wounds. We're very grateful that mother and the son allowed us to help, and we're thrilled to see them reunited and living together.