Everybody's Child
The director narrates his extraordinary story of drug addiction and attempts to rebuild his life and regain his children
Garry faces up to the damage done by a life of crime and drugs. He wants to ensure his three children have something he never had: a loving, supportive family. He's directing the documentary at the same time as battling his heroin addiction. As the narrative develops, his desperate fight almost destroys Garry. His making of the documentary and his recovery become interlinked. It means the audience is in for an emotional and powerful ride.
"I wasn't born into this world, I was thrown at it", reflects Garry Fraser as he looks out over Muirhouse, the inner city housing estate where he grew up. "With an alcoholic for a dad and a mum who just didn't know how to love, I was up against odds right from the start." Having been at the epicentre of the 1980s AIDS epidemic, this corner of Edinburgh is now home to fractured families left grieving the loss of young drug addiction victims. "I'm running out of numbers for the amount of pals that I know have died", Garry says frankly.
Whilst battling his own heroin addiction, Garry walks us through his dark past and revisits memorable locations from his childhood. Having lived in 26 care homes in 8 years, he describes his turbulent upbringing of sexual and physical abuse, and his experience of running away from his so-called home. "A multi-tasking criminal at sixteen years old, I was heading straight for the revolving door systems of Her Majesty's prison", he explains. But a previous care worker sheds light on a different side to Garry; "When you came here you were calm and you loved it... the drugs, they just took you away".
Times have changed, and now Garry is happily married with three children. His newfound security has filled him with determination to become the father he never had, despite his ongoing battle with addiction and recovery, and trying to come to terms with the poor decisions of his past. Meanwhile, he struggles to locate the sense of purpose enshrouded by his dependence on medication. As we watch Garry attempt to come off his medication completely and wait for the results of a HIV test, the bleak and harsh realities of recovery are laid bare.
Deeply personal and straight-talking, Garry's story sheds light on the difficulties of escaping the shackles of addiction, but also the strength and determination of a man seeking a better future.
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