Geraldton mother Gerry Tondut starts support group for families affected by drugs after personal experience

For 10 years, Gerry Tondut’s family has been on a distressing journey, as her son battled with a drug addiction. It started when he was 15, and escalated to a point years later where he had debts to pay for his ice addiction. It reached a stage where he had leave town in order to break the cycle. Although he received support throughout his journey to now where he is in a good space, Ms Tondut felt although the support workers tried to help her, she felt they couldn’t relate to her experience. Ms Tondut said it put a strain on relationships within the family, and she had placed the burden on herself. “You blame yourself so much for what your child’s going through,” she said. “What did I do wrong? How could I’ve changed it?” Ms Tondut said she was susceptible to nervous breakdowns, while her family members also struggled at times. Her most difficult moment came when she had to go against her motherly instincts to support her son. “One thing that really stuck in my mind when reading one of the support books is you’re enabling them by giving them the money,” she said. “By you giving them money, you’re basically putting that needle or that pipe in their mouth. “That just really hit home, that was my trigger to say ‘that’s it, I can’t give him any money’, and that was my toughest decision I had to make.” Her son is doing better following years of work, but Ms Tondut wanted to provide support to other families in similar situations. She said (for her) having someone to speak to was important. “We’re very lucky to have each other. I can understand people that haven’t got that support, may have nowhere to go,” Ms Tondut said. It sparked the idea for Parent Support — PS I Love you, a meeting once a week where people in families affected by drugs can share as little or as much as they like regarding their situation. Ms Tondut said although they were not there to help in an official capacity, having someone to lean on could provide plenty of assistance to those who might need it. “We’re a set of ears and we can just sit and listen, and maybe give them a little bit of guidance,” she said. “We’re not qualified. We’re just parents or people that have gone through it. “It was just somewhere they could come and talk.” Ms Tondut said she wanted to create a no pressure environment where people could speak freely. “Everybody experiences things at certain different times,” she said. “Sometimes it’s hard to open that front door to get at that step. “There’ll be no judgment, we’re just here to help.” Parent Support — PS I Love You meets every Wednesday from 6.30pm at Hope Lutheran Community Church in Wonthella.