I thought they would both die
Jul 10 2007 by Laura Davis, Liverpool Daily Post
The one consolation for Elizabeth and her family is that Nicholas’s death led to Simon restarting his life. At his brother’s funeral, he promised him that he would finally deal with his addiction.
“In the Chapel of Rest he put a message into his brother’s coffin saying ‘I’m going to live for both of us’, and we all felt that Nick’s soul went into Simon. So when I look at Simon today, because they’re so identical, I find a peace of mind there because I know Nick could have been like that as well. I know what might have been for Nicholas,” says Elizabeth.
Simon has been clean ever since and now has a job that has allowed him to pay for a flat. He often joins his mother in meeting other parents to give them an insight into how their own children might be feeling.
While Elizabeth describes his determination as “amazing”, she is much more modest about her own contribution.
“I don’t like the word brave. I think it was just so absolutely necessary for somebody to do this because of all the pain of addiction that’s out there,” she explains.
“In a sense I’ve written the book as a therapeutic exercise but at the same time as an opportunity for other people to travel that journey with me and hopefully seek support.”
* MUM, Can You Lend Me Twenty Quid? by Elizabeth Burton-Phillips is published by Portrait Books, priced £14.99. Further details on the Nicholas Mills Foundation is available at www.nickmillsfoundation.com and www.twentyquid.com
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