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The most horrifying stories on this blog involve drugs and children. Parents do some of the most heinous things to their own children in order to secure drugs for their own habit. The following story is about a young couple who became addicted to heroin, then crack, and then fought their way back to sobriety and now lead others on the same path.
Fortunately, they did the sane and loving thing and sent their son to live with his grandma when they realized that they could not be responsible for him. I love this story for that reason alone. But there is much more to celebrate in this story than that.
In sickness and in health
How these two parents once consumed by drug addictions
are using radical honesty as a starting point for change
— and building a community for people seeking
a better way to live
Dan Hearn and Donna Gilchrist pose with their two children in their Saskatoon home. (Chanss Lagaden/CBC )
Bonnie AllenJun. 25, 2023CBC News
Warning: This story contains graphic details about the effects of addiction.
On a weekday afternoon, Donna Gilchrist scoops chicken pot pie onto her four-year-old daughter’s plate and tries to convince the girl, who prefers hotdogs, that it tastes like chicken noodle soup.
At the end of the table, her husband, Dan Hearn, gives their son a spelling test.
They’re squeezing in an early supper at their Saskatoon home before they rush off to the boy’s football practice.
It’s the typical after-school rush that plays out in the homes of so many Canadian families.
It’s hard to imagine that Dan, 42, and Donna, 44, were once so consumed by their drug addictions that they nearly lost everything. The bank threatened to foreclose on their house. They were separated from their son. Dan dug in dumpsters. Donna lived on the streets and nearly died.
Dan Hearn, left, dug in dumpsters to pay for drugs and Donna Gilchrist, right, lived on the streets. (Submitted by Dan Hearn)
And yet, Dan and Donna say it shouldn’t be hard to imagine, or hard to talk about.
Just a few metres away from their dining room, a sophisticated audio studio is squeezed into a corner of their master bedroom. It’s where the couple livestreams their podcast about addiction and recovery, Hard Knox Talks, to tens of thousands of people on Facebook weekly, with millions more clicking on their online content each month.
Their followers are often seeking a sense of belonging, the absence of which is partly what drove many of them to use drugs in the first place.
As thousands of Canadians die from drug poisoning every year, Dan and Donna believe it’s time for people to talk openly about addiction. Radical honesty, they say, is the starting point for change.
“Years ago, I would never have said 90 per cent of what I’ve said [in this interview], or 90 per cent of what I said on the [podcast]. I would have been too scared of judgment,” Donna told CBC News in an interview at her home. “And now, I’m just like, ‘Judge me how you will. This is my truth.’”
Two middle-class kids
Growing up in the ‘80s, Dan’s middle-class family understood addiction more than most. His mom worked as an addictions counsellor at a treatment centre. His father, a salesman, was a recovering alcoholic who hadn’t touched a bottle since before his son was born.
Still, as a skinny kid who didn’t like school or sports, Dan didn’t feel like he belonged until he discovered a clique of teens who drank and used drugs.
“I didn’t like who I was. I didn’t feel like I fit in anywhere,” he said. “I could not wait to get my hands on a bottle and when I did, it all changed for me.”
In his 20s, he worked as a journeyman welder up north and spent his weeks off chugging booze and smoking weed in Saskatoon. When he was offered meth at a party, he never hesitated.
In 2008, he thought he hit the jackpot when he met Donna, a beautiful and smart legal assistant who liked to party as hard as he did.
Donna grew up in a blue-collar family in Saskatoon. Her mom was a secretary and her dad framed houses and fixed boilers. She excelled in volleyball and basketball, and even set a city record in track and field. But she felt overlooked by other kids, rarely invited to sleepovers or birthday parties.
“I didn’t really fit in. I always felt really awkward. And the older I got, the more aware I became of that,” she said.
How they got from the photos above to the one below and the one at top is a wonderful, inspiring story. Please go to CBC News to enjoy the whole experience.
Well done Dan and Donna! God bless you for loving your daughter, she could have been another victim of drugs.
In sickness and in health
How these two parents once consumed by drug addictions
are using radical honesty as a starting point for change
— and building a community for people seeking
a better way to live
Dan Hearn and Donna Gilchrist pose with their two children in their Saskatoon home. (Chanss Lagaden/CBC )
Bonnie Allen
Jun. 25, 2023
CBC News
Warning: This story contains graphic details about the effects of addiction.
On a weekday afternoon, Donna Gilchrist scoops chicken pot pie onto her four-year-old daughter’s plate and tries to convince the girl, who prefers hotdogs, that it tastes like chicken noodle soup.
At the end of the table, her husband, Dan Hearn, gives their son a spelling test.
They’re squeezing in an early supper at their Saskatoon home before they rush off to the boy’s football practice.
It’s the typical after-school rush that plays out in the homes of so many Canadian families.
It’s hard to imagine that Dan, 42, and Donna, 44, were once so consumed by their drug addictions that they nearly lost everything. The bank threatened to foreclose on their house. They were separated from their son. Dan dug in dumpsters. Donna lived on the streets and nearly died.
Dan Hearn, left, dug in dumpsters to pay for drugs and Donna Gilchrist, right, lived on the streets. (Submitted by Dan Hearn)
And yet, Dan and Donna say it shouldn’t be hard to imagine, or hard to talk about.
Just a few metres away from their dining room, a sophisticated audio studio is squeezed into a corner of their master bedroom. It’s where the couple livestreams their podcast about addiction and recovery, Hard Knox Talks, to tens of thousands of people on Facebook weekly, with millions more clicking on their online content each month.
Their followers are often seeking a sense of belonging, the absence of which is partly what drove many of them to use drugs in the first place.
As thousands of Canadians die from drug poisoning every year, Dan and Donna believe it’s time for people to talk openly about addiction. Radical honesty, they say, is the starting point for change.
“Years ago, I would never have said 90 per cent of what I’ve said [in this interview], or 90 per cent of what I said on the [podcast]. I would have been too scared of judgment,” Donna told CBC News in an interview at her home. “And now, I’m just like, ‘Judge me how you will. This is my truth.’”
Two middle-class kids
Growing up in the ‘80s, Dan’s middle-class family understood addiction more than most. His mom worked as an addictions counsellor at a treatment centre. His father, a salesman, was a recovering alcoholic who hadn’t touched a bottle since before his son was born.
Still, as a skinny kid who didn’t like school or sports, Dan didn’t feel like he belonged until he discovered a clique of teens who drank and used drugs.
“I didn’t like who I was. I didn’t feel like I fit in anywhere,” he said. “I could not wait to get my hands on a bottle and when I did, it all changed for me.”
In his 20s, he worked as a journeyman welder up north and spent his weeks off chugging booze and smoking weed in Saskatoon. When he was offered meth at a party, he never hesitated.
In 2008, he thought he hit the jackpot when he met Donna, a beautiful and smart legal assistant who liked to party as hard as he did.
Donna grew up in a blue-collar family in Saskatoon. Her mom was a secretary and her dad framed houses and fixed boilers. She excelled in volleyball and basketball, and even set a city record in track and field. But she felt overlooked by other kids, rarely invited to sleepovers or birthday parties.
“I didn’t really fit in. I always felt really awkward. And the older I got, the more aware I became of that,” she said.
How they got from the photos above to the one below and the one at top is a wonderful, inspiring story. Please go to CBC News to enjoy the whole experience.
Well done Dan and Donna! God bless you for loving your daughter, she could have been another victim of drugs.
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