EX-JUNKIE, DRUG DEALER TRIES TO MAKE AMENDS FOR PAST

Fred Milne has destroyed many lives as a drug dealer.

But his personal rehabilitation and dedication to helping others beat their
habits has earned him a Coast Foundation Courage to Come Back award in the
chemical dependency category.

Today, his story -- and on the following two Mondays we will profile his
fellow award winners in the areas of mental health and general medicine.

Five years ago Fred Milne operated crack shacks for junkies -- now he runs
drug-recovery houses.

"It's not a big jump, it just requires a shift in focus," chuckles the
47-year-old man, whose own multiple drug habit once cost thousands of
dollars a day.

"I began selling drugs when I was only 12 and, in the next 30 years, I hurt
an awful lot of people. After trying to kill myself [in 1995] with a heroin
overdose, I realized I had to get myself straight and make some amends for
the damage I caused."

The tall, rangy guy fixes his questioner with steel blue eyes while sitting
in one of eight homes funded by his Hope for Freedom Society, and recounts
his horrible history. And his smile disappears as he talks about being born
into an alcoholic home in Terrace.

"In my first 12 years, we moved six times because my father's drinking lost
him job after job. Each time we moved into poorer neighbourhoods where I
would hang out with kids from other dysfunctional families. Hurt people
hurt people and hurt kids hurt kids . . . it goes on and on."

A move to Vancouver Island changed nothing and his mom asked the violent
dad to leave. Young Fred was already running wild on the street selling
drugs and faced his first trafficking charge at 14.

"By then, mom was a single mom and I figured I could help her more selling
drugs than taking a minimum-wage job which paid a buck and a quarter an
hour in those days."

At 16, his girlfriend was pregnant -- she later miscarried -- and he had a
24-cap-a-day heroin habit which cost around $400 to support.

His impoverished and violent background kept the young drug dealer out of
jail until he was 19 -- the courts took pity on him, whether he was up on
drug or theft offences. But in his final teen year, his dealing enterprises
put him inside for three years. And for the next 23 years, he was in and
out like a yo-yo for trafficking, robbery, theft and fraud, to name but a
few of his crimes.

In 1974, he had a son called Casey but that youngster saw him only when his
druggie dad got passes from jail. Ten years later, his girlfriend at the
time bore a daughter named Patricia, who also grew up without truly knowing
her dad.

"I saw Casey later (in 1993), he'd begun doing cocaine when he was 17 . . .
at that point I thought my job as a dad was to show him how to do it
properly and become a good little junkie."

After years of heavy methadone, cocaine and heroin use, Fred was ready to
call it quits.

"I had gone from a healthy jail weight of 250 pounds down to 168. I had
broken nearly every bone in my body, had 32 stab wounds in my left arm and
had overdosed many, many times."

Not surprisingly, the latter was to be his choice of exit from this world.
But thankfully he failed, though not for want of trying.

"I took a massive dose of pure heroin on Dec. 9, 1995. They brought me
round three times but I still left the hospital determined to get a fatal
dose to finish the job. I got what I needed but, when it came to going
through with it, I couldn't."

He ended up in Victoria's Pemberton House Detox Centre.

"For 17 days, these weird people prayed over me and told me that God had a
plan for me."

He moved to the Lower Mainland and drifted into the Coquitlam Alliance
Church, where he was greeted with open arms. He opened up his own home to
anyone who wanted, like him, to quit drugs.

Then Fred realized this was his calling and, a little more than five years
later, the Hope for Freedom Society at any given time has 72 recovering
addicts -- men and women -- in its homes. His son Casey is one of its
success stories and, he's also happy to say, he's reunited with his
daughter, mom and even his dad.

"When I was young my heroes were the likes of Scarface and Al Capone but
now it's Mother Teresa," says Fred, the trademark grin returning to his face.

For more information about the society call (604) 464-0475.

The Coast Foundation's Courage to Come Back award winners are announced and
profiled here exclusively every Monday.

Today's recipient will be interviewed on CKNW 980's Bill Good radio program
this afternoon and video vignettes featuring all the winners will be
broadcast on the BCTV Early News. A schedule will be announced later.

Six awards will be presented at a dinner on Thursday, May 3, hosted by
Silken Laumann and BCTV news anchor Pamela Martin.

For more information about the foundation's work, call the number above or
check out website: www.worksafebc.com