Winnipeg mom credits Cooper Nemeth for son's decision to seek help for drug addiction

A Winnipeg mother credits Cooper Nemeth and his family for inspiringher son to get help for his drug addiction.

Nemeth was missing for oneweek before his body was found at a home not far from thehouse where he was last seen alive on Feb.14.Police said the death was drug-related.

"Before this, I was numb to the situations that were happening in my own household,"said Ramona Waldner, 37.

She was one of thousands who looked for Nemethuntil his body was found, but Waldneralso had a deeper reason to pray he would be found alive.

"It just all hit way too close to home, way too close to home,"she said.

"Cooper reminded me of my son,and my son reminded me of Cooper."

Waldner hasn't forgotten the moment she learned at 12:30 a.m. that Nemeth's body had been found. She burst into tears, feeling a mother's sorrow.

It forced her to confront her own son.

• Nicholas Bell-Wright, 22, arrested in Cooper Nemeth death

She says her 15-year-old had been showing signs of what she thought wasdepression and pulling away from everybody he knew.He hadn't been himselfand wasn't telling the truth, according to Waldner.

She said a number oftalks after Cooper's body was found led toher sonopening up about his ownstruggle withdrug addiction. He was using marijuana and increasingly, prescription medications.

"It was starting to get a little bit scary in that aspect. We needed to stop it before it got worse," Waldner said.

Recovery

Eventually, Waldner'sson agreed to get help. He checked into a rehab facility and spent several nights there.Now, he sees a counsellor regularly.

"It's just opened our eyes that these situations can happen right under our nose.Like, we think this couldn't happen to us, and really, it could."

At Nemeth's funeral, the pastor addressed the young people with words the teen's mother used to describe him: a good kidwho just got on the wrong path.

"You get caught once, you can't travel again. You're ruining yourself for jobs. You're ruining your life," Waldner said.

She knows it may not be an easy road, she added. Friends can be pushy, and drugs are not hard to come by.

"I'm going to be in your face now," she said, referring to her approach with her son.

"If there [are]addictions there, we're getting help. I'm not going to sit back and let you say, 'No.' I'm taking you there, I'm dragging you there and we're going."

For Waldner, there is the potential for a "silver lining," in Nemeth's death.

"It's that it opened my eyes to what's going on. And my son got help. I don't think that would've happened before," she said.

"I couldn't be more proud of my son right now."

Nemeth, she said, is never far from her thoughts, either.

"Even when I'm on the street, [I'm] still looking for him."

Waldnerdistributedbracelets for the teenafter his body was found. On Saturday, she helped present the Bear Clan Patrol with a donation on behalf of hisfamily. She plans to wear her bracelet until the case goes through the court system.

• Cooper Nemeth bracelet funds donated to Bear Clan Patrol

"I felt like it was my son.I felt like it was my familyfeeling the pain. I still cry thinking about it," she said.

"He truly is Winnipeg's boy."