like badley, jean rice’s drug use started as a teenager with party drugs and gradually morphed into something far worse — including an addiction to meth.“i just couldn’t be without it,” she says.fortunately, like badley, rice found salvation in her new baby.rice was already at a low point by the time she got pregnant. her older child, a boy, had been apprehended from rice — her partner, also a drug user, was suffering from a life-threatening illness — and she’d been criminally charged with drug-related offences.she started dtc in may 2018. her daughter, victoria, was born the following year while she was still in the program. victoria was, in fact, born a year to the day after rice stopped using.right from the moment she learned of her pregnancy, rice says her daughter became her major reason for staying clean.“since i found out that i was pregnant, i knew i wanted to have a clean baby …,” she says. “i’ve seen the trauma that my son has faced just going through the system … i would never want to have him have to face any of that again, and i wouldn’t want her to have to feel the same way that he has felt.”rice now shares custody of her son with his father.***
it’s not only moms who find the strength to battle addiction through their children. dads, too, can find the biggest reason to quit drugs in their kids.tyler seminuk was once a promising hockey player, actively involved in sports his whole life. a car crash didn’t just end his hockey career, it led to his addiction, beginning with drugs he was prescribed to help with the pain.“it just progressed from there,” he says.unable to work, seminuk started going to the bar instead. and he began using other drugs.criminal charges soon followed, and seminuk found himself spiralling further, both in terms of substance abuse and in the company he was keeping.“i was heavily into the lifestyle, involved in all the drugs, the criminal aspect of it,” he says.he tried dtc twice but failed both times.seminuk was ultimately picked up on a warrant. by then, he’d learned his partner was pregnant.seminuk already had three daughters, 17 and older, raised in a stable home by their mom. the chance to do things right for his then-unborn child guided him back to dtc.this time, the situation was different.“i knew i wanted to get sober and so did (my baby’s mother) …,” he says. “in the first two weeks i was out (of custody), the mother of my daughter and i made a plan to go to detox and get clean together.”after mary-jo was born, she initially went to stay with her grandma. since then, seminuk — currently working his way through dtc — has been able to gain custody.he credits the staff at dtc but is also thankful for his daughter in helping him reach this point in his life. he has overdosed and nearly died more than once. he knows his future, without the changes he’s made, would be bleak.“with mary-jo, she’s literally changed my life …,” he says. “she saved my life and i know she’s changed her mother’s life too.”
hpolischuk@postmedia.comtwitter.com/lpheatherpthe news seems to be flying at us faster all the time. from covid-19 updates to politics and crime and everything in between, it can be hard to keep up. with that in mind, the regina leader-post has created an afternoon headlines newsletter that can be delivered daily to your inbox to help make sure you are up to date with the most vital news of the day. click here to subscribe.
share story
share this story
doing it for the kids: parents confronting addiction