In 2013, in a report by The PressSerge Nadon spoke with pride about his job as an avionics technician. After a series of hard blows – separation, time in prison, head trauma – the 53-year-old man now lives on the street.
Published at 5:00 a.m.
“The greatest passion of my life now is collecting $10 worth of cans to buy a rock of crack,” he confides, not very proud of his situation. “I’m so addicted that I don’t even have the patience to wait to get one for $15, even though I know it would give me a better buzz. »
He himself informed us that he had already been featured in our pages, in better days, when we met him Tuesday evening at the St-Michael Mission heat stop.
PHOTO HUGO-SÉBASTIEN AUBERT, LA PRESSE ARCHIVES
Serge Nadon, in 2013
Holder of a DEC in aircraft mechanics and another DEC in avionics, he worked for several years for aviation companies, notably in Quebec and Mirabel. He was passionate about his job, he said.
Very lucid, he admits to having made several “bad choices” which caused him to fall into drug addiction and homelessness. But he also had some bad luck: a head injury in 2018, which led to memory and organizational problems, then the death of his father, with whom he lived, in 2020.
PHOTO SARAH MONGEAU-BIRKETT, THE PRESS
Serge Nadon
Despite therapy since 2011 at Maison Jean-Lapointe, he has not managed to free himself from the influence of drugs. And his life now seems to revolve around his crack habit.
A most trying reality
He went through a few homeless shelters, such as the Abri de Villeray and the Etape, in CAP Saint-Barnabé. But because of his crack addiction, he was kicked out several times.
You must not miss the bed checks, because otherwise you lose your place. But since I had to collect cans to pay for my drink, and then collect $10 worth of cans, that’s a damn long time, I often came back too late.
Serge Nadon
Homelessness is not easy, testifies Serge Nadon. He often lost his possessions, because shelters threw them away in his absence or the hiding places he found were discovered by others.
It’s also not easy to take care of your personal hygiene when you have nowhere to rest. When we met him, Mr. Nadon hadn’t showered or changed his clothes in two weeks, he admitted. “Except the stockings!” “, he specifies. “The last time I wanted to take a shower here, when my turn came, I was told that the person before me had been in the shower too long and it was over. »
He recognizes that he would undoubtedly need psychological follow-up, but has never taken steps in this direction, nor to join a supervised housing program. “A street worker already offered to go meet someone at her organization, but I didn’t go. It’s difficult to help someone who doesn’t help themselves,” he says.
“When I find myself sleeping outside like yesterday, in front of the metro door, I find it so difficult, I tell myself that it will give me the motivation to get through it. But I still haven’t acted. It must be because I haven’t fallen far enough yet. »
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