Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - June 16, 2001, Winnipeg, Manitoba A4 local a Impi Smi compulsive Gambler feels blessed to have survived his addiction the Demon was me on the Day that a clinical Gam bling study attempting to put a face on problem gamblers in one of the Leshan blood kind was sitting in the bar at pasta la Vista but the 55yearold Man Well Call Larry want crying for the tears were for his Favourite gambling buddy his 29yearold son who committed suicide in a Carbon Mono Ide clouded garage less than two years his son didst leave a but then that want Larry understood the unbearable darkness of being a compulsive Gam Bler and the Lack of self Worth that drove his son to three years larrys own gambling addiction drove him to attempt and then there was the suicide note his son wrote in before his own unsuccessful dear it i love in sorry i cant stand what Ive volts larrys son is one of five gambling related suicides the office of the Mani Toba chief medical examiner tracked during the last two years the average problem Gambler is around but the other four suicide victims were All in their 40s or Early All were men and All but one took his life in this in a province with the highest per capita betting and the highest percentage of problem gamblers in the statistics Canada figures show that what the average Manitoban spends on games of Chance has More than Dou bled from 1992 to spiking from to the National average in this government controlled Industry that collected an unprecedented Bil lion nationwide last is per As for problem a 1995 Manitoba lotteries study identified per cent of adult Manitoban As problem including per cent who were considered pathology Mike Deal Winnipeg free press i gambled because i wanted to get away from i didst know who i was until i was says who lost his son to a gambling that translates into about people with says Gerry coordinator of gambling ser vices for the addictions foundation of but according to recent there Are probably even More problem gamblers and what these clinical Survey num Bers dont gambling and mental health researcher Brian Cox and others Are the thousands of people who Are affected by marital bankruptcies and even suicides toxic byproducts of Gam bling that something that the afm will try to measure Over the next month with the provinces most extensive gaming related Telephone Survey of Manitoban that will take a statistical snapshot of problem forefront of expansion Cox said studies elsewhere have shown that the More available Gam bling the More problem gamblers Are Manitoba is at the forefront in Gam bling it is one of the few provinces to allow All three forms of government regulated gaming Lotter government run casinos and according to statistics since when the first vat was hooked up in Rural there have been volts in 565 locations installed around the according to the Manitoba lotteries internet web the face of gambling seated in pasta la trying to control his Doest need a Survey to know How widespread and personally devastating the problem is or that volts Are the most potent of gambling he just has to remember How he started and stopped gambling in front of a vat and what his son wrote in his suicide note volts in larrys it want really volts that drove his son to suicide and it want Money that drove Larry and his son to Ive found my Larry and the Demon was sitting in front of Day after hour after was a Way of numbing the pain from the i gambled because i wanted to get away from Larry i didst know who i was until i was so Larry Doest blame Manitoba lotteries or even the financial institutions that fed his addiction with Loans and advances until with his collapsed Asp he was in he says he Doest even blame his physically abusive father or mentally ill Mother who slapped him when he told her hed been molested by the scout nor does Larry blame himself for not being Able to save his son the Way he finally saved Larry vowed As a child that when he grew he would be a Good father and never beat his but larrys first wife died when his son was just the Little boy followed his fathers search for himself through More than a from Swift current to Yellowknife to Vancouver loved my son i loved my but i was so Dys functional myself that i didst love me and until i loved me there was no Way i could love anyone after Larry attempted he gambled for another month and lost another i Felt that i was the most useless piece of crap on the Larry i even kill i even do that in june of seated on a Stool at Assiniboia Downs with nowhere left to go but Back to the Gas and the the tears began rolling Down larrys Cheeks the Way they used to when his father beat i god help i cant do this any i just Felt so lost and so helpless and so three years he relapsed for one and six months after his son was found in a garage filled with a toxic paramedics got his heart beating and airlifted him to Minneapolis to cleanse his system in a hyperbolic in the air Larry prayed that his son be Given one More but there were no More chances for larrys its larrys birthday its fathers Day and its been two years since began what he Hopes will be a lifelong Larry must feel Lucky to have found Lucky to still have his Lucky to have been forgiven so much and by so and above Lucky to be i feel blessed to be Larry says i dont feel d muggers continued from Page a4 i think there amazing said Shirley Manitoba Marathon executive i dont know other people who would want to go and hug sweaty All morning for what they some times also i can Tell you no one wears really Good shoes Marilyn mouse an avid runner for the past 30 has been a Hugger for the past five Ive been thrown up sweated coughed Fraser but some people really need a they need you for their body weight to support them just for a few Steps when they Fin ish until they feel More like them selves or to help them get to the medical but even if they dont need any when they Cross the theres a Friendly face who is proud of their Dakota collegiate students have volunteered in various including for More than a this 90 staff and students will comprise the bulk of the Hugger who wait at the University of Manitoba this will be my second year and i think you just get so caught up in the you feel their Joy when they Cross the finish some people cry and some Are so there said Maggie a Grade 12 Dakota its a great feeling to be part people out there putting in their own time to support each Dean Dakota math teacher and the Volunteer Coordie said he is amazed every year at How the students help peo ple they dont even some you think there shy or not that interested and they just Shine out Flavoni we have a meeting about a week before where i try to explain whats going to happen out the Best advice i think i give them is dont Wear open toed sandals Fraser Hopes to be on the other Side of the finish line As she has decided to run the half Marathon As part of her rehabilitation from a shoulder injury this past Winter that kept her away from running from january through its a very comforting feeling to know that there will be Hugger there for Fraser strength in numbers the free press is read by 80 of Winnipeg adults at least once a week strength in numbers Winnipeg adults in Farmers care for their animals 365 Days a Manitoba pig Farmers Are committed to following welfare in cooperation with scientists and animal welfare groups and reinforced by Federal and provincial they Are also committed to informing the Public about How they raise and care for their for the free How pigs Are raised Contact our office at when Farmers take care of their the animals take care of the simply Good care is Good visit us a touch red River exhibition Park june 21 to Casino Bingo Culm 1iimwjw1 Romany to Plav owned and operated by the red Lake band of Chippewa management reserves the right to change this program at any be present to More promotion details available at any one of our Casino properties ;