The story of a mother, whose twin sons succumbed to heroin addiction, has been turned into a play which tells of the devastating effects of drugs on families.
Elizabeth Burton-Phillips never thought it could happen to her. A teacher at a British girls' boarding school, she lived a comfortable life and was a loving mother to three children, including her identical twin sons, Nicholas and Simon. She never imagined heroin addiction was something that would enter her family's life.
But from the age of 13, her twin boys began to experiment with drugs, starting with cannabis but progressing to smoking heroin and then injecting it. It started a 14-year journey of hell, during which Burton-Phillips did everything possible to save her sons from their addiction. Eventually, she forced herself to cut them off. One year later, her son Nicholas killed himself after a drug-fuelled row with his twin.
"I am an ordinary mum, wife and grandmother," says Burton-Phillips (65), who went on to found DrugFAM, a British charity that supports families coping with drug addiction. She is in Dublin to talk about the play based on her book, Mum, Can You Lend Me Twenty Quid, which will be held here later this month.
"When you hear about drug and alcohol addiction, it's always about someone else, not you. Coming from a professional background, being a teacher, teaching drug and alcohol awareness, you just do not imagine that you are going to get caught up in it. But I did."
Source: Isabel Hayes, Irish Independent, 27/10/15
Safer Student Nights
eBulletin
Poll
