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th ei fp .c a Th e IF P -H al to n H ill s | T hu rs da y, D ec em be r 13 ,2 01 8 | 12 WALK-IN & FAMILY CLINIC FLU VACCINE AVAILABLE • Male & Female Physicians • Walk-in and Appointment • Women's Health & Pregnancy Care • Sports Medicine • Extended Hours • Senior's Health • Lab On-Site • Pharmacy On-Site Miller Dr. M ou nt ai nv ie w Rd .S 8t h Li ne M ai n St 15 Sd. Rd. Eaton St. 10 Side Rd Opposite to Allison's Farm Market 221 Miller Dr., Georgetown 905-873-6776 By Cory Soal R.H.A.D. . . . Lend MeYour Ears We care about your hearing! Professional Arts Building 99 Sinclair Ave., Suite 210, Georgetown 905-873-6642 Serving the community of Halton Hills and surrounding areas since 1992 The Georgetown Avoid being pressured into buying a hearing aid. As with any other medical decision, you should be given the opportunity to seek additional information or a second opinion. Sales personnel using high pressure approaches demonstrate little concern for your well being. PLEASE BE AWARE OF SALES PRACTICES Sitting in front of a silver tarp blowing in the wind of a George- town backyard, Ben Murray and his mother Sandra propped up a cellphone on a table, using a selfie stick and two cigarette packs on ei- ther side for support. Then, they pressed record and created the first video of their new video blog called Spirit to Live, centred on both of their experienc- es over the years, dealing with Ben's struggles with addiction and mental-health issues. At the time the introductory video was created, Ben was going on three months clean of the sub- stances he had previously been us- ing including cocaine, metham- phetamine, heroin, oxycodone and fentanyl. The mother-son duo said their decision to start the blog and pub- licly disclose their most difficult stories, marked the first step in the 21-year-old's recovery and their de- termination for him to become a future success story. But as I entered the Murray home the following week to sit down with Ben and Sandra to talk about the blog, something in the air felt different. And they wasted no time telling me what was going on. "I messed up," Ben said, looking me right in the eye at the kitchen table, adding that he had relapsed and was coming off his high, while recovering from four days without any sleep. He continued: "You have to fall 10 times and get back up 11. This is me falling once, but now I'm learn- ing how to not fall." We chatted for a long time. And when we were done, Ben and San- dra recorded and posted their sec- ond video, titled Relapse, outlining the challenges they were specifi- cally facing that day. "He's owning it," Sandra said. "We're doing this blog to be real and to educate, but also, we're do- ing this for us. I'm doing it because I'm loving that we are having bet- ter conversations." The Murrays say, with their video blog, they intend to touch upon a variety of topics from the self-esteem issues and struggles with depression that impacted Ben's decision to initially start us- ing drugs in Grade 8, to the dozens of times he was hospitalized over the years, to his relationship trou- bles with friends and family mem- bers. "I learned that my reaction to what he does makes a difference in his world and I ask myself 'Do I want to be right, or do I want to be effective?'" Sandra said. "I stopped arguing. He knows I don't want to fight. And I've learned that it's his choice what he does. As a parent, we want to protect and we want to say, 'Come on, buddy, you need to quit.' That hasn't worked. This morning started off rough and the old Sandra would have tried to fix it. I can't try to fix it. He needs to fix it. " Since Ben and Sandra launched their video blog, positive responses have been pouring in from members of the community showing their support. "Love the video. Much love to you guys!" one comment on You- Tube reads. "Sending you both all my love and support. Stay strong B-Man ... you can do this!" another one says. "We want to take the stigma off of (addiction and mental-health is- sues)," Sandra said. "Because there are so many people suffering alone. And the responses that we have gotten have been overwhelm- ing." Ben adds that making the vid- eos will help keep him account- able. He says that he will not only continue to try to get clean, but al- so that he strives to be honest about the struggles he will face throughout the entire process. "I can't give up. If I do, I'm going to die," he said. "This is my journey and one day I will be a success." NEWS GEORGETOWN MOM AND SON GET REAL ABOUT ADDICTION AND MENTAL HEALTH IN NEW VIDEO BLOG VERONICA APPIA vappia@metroland.com Sandra and Ben Murray have started their own video blog, shedding light on their very personal struggles with addiction and mental illness. Veronica Appia/Metroland