Amy Winehouse's family fear she doesn't have long to live

"reach rock bottom" - there's no such place. My son has been a drug addict for the past 3 years - heroin, crack, horse tranquilizers etc. anything he could get his hands on. The first time he o.d.'d was three years ago & his girlfirend watched him all weekend, writhing, sweating, cold & never called for help. We bought him home & he seemed to recover. A couple of months later he moved back out as g.f. was kicked out by her mother & they got a room together in a house. They spent all winter (Canada) with no heat as they couldn't afford it on their welfare checks. We helped out a bit with food & I did their laundry (she would sleep while I did it). We were waiting for "rock bottom". They split up several times & he would call me in the middle of the night crying like a baby. He came back home for a bit & they got together again and he would disappear for days. It was spring, school was over so they lived on the streets. We would go downtown & see them outside the bus terminal with pushers & other addicts. His older brother would pick him up anytime he called in the night & bring him home. They panhandled (begged) & she would go for crack as she got more than him. They injected in shop doorways, slept in back alleys, walked around incessantly, never bathed & were very dishevelled. We'd bring him home & try & keep him here, but he would hitch hike back to town. He even called the police on us when we wouldn't let him go. By this time he weighed 110 lbs, he's 5'11". G.f. weighed 80 lbs, she's 5'2". We stood by them, her parents disowned her. He told his brother he would have killed himself so many times but he did not want mum & dad to suffer. What they were was parasites - feeding off each other. Without each other we had a chance to get through to him. Her parents were moving to Ottawa so we contacted them & they agreed to take her with them regardless of what she said, even if they had to kidnap her. She did go and that was the beginning of the long road back. I took him to England when I went to visit my father (Altzheimer's), I am from England - Barnet actually. I took him to Camden(I was born there)& could see him easily slip into the drug scene there. It was this trip that made me aware of Amy Winehouse & her beautiful voice, but I can see the similarities between these two pitiful people. Amy & Blake are parasites feeding off each other, if they are apart there is hope for them both. Amy is similar to my son & has an addictive personality, he does everything in excess whether it be drink or drugs. We still have to check his arms & legs every day, I have taken vinegar sachets & needles from his back pack even last week & he has used on occasion but he met a lovely girl recently & she has told him that they are through if he ever touches drugs again. I've seen my son at "rock bottom" but he just didn't know it. I beleive the only thing that saved him was our persistence & always being there whether he wanted it or not. It's still a day by day situation, but he now weighs 140 lbs & is gaining. By the way he is a very talented musician - he mainly plays drums, but can pick up any instrument and master it.

Please don't print my name.

what you have been through and what you have done in support is truly very brave and you should feel rightly proud of yourselves and your son.
My prayers are with you that he keeps straight-he was fortunate that you took a tough path and chose to parent him and god willing he will be able to hold it together.
i hope you take care of yourself sometimes
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