A Mother’s Story of Losing Her Son to Overdose | with Margaret Martin

<p><strong>If you’ve ever lost someone to overdose, or loved someone who kept chasing a feeling that scared you, you know grief does not arrive neatly.</strong></p><p><br /></p><p>In this episode, Paris sits down with Margaret Martin, a Western Australia-based social worker and counsellor, to talk about losing her son Ethan to an MDMA overdose at 25.</p><p><br /></p><p>But this is not just a conversation about how Ethan died.</p><p>It is about who Ethan was.</p><p><br /></p><p>A cheeky, philosophical, risk-taking young man. A chef. A head chef far too young. A father to two little girls. A son whose life was bigger than the worst day of it.</p><p><br /></p><p>Margaret speaks about the police knock, the shock, the move to Geraldton days later, and the strange protection of being somewhere no one knew her story yet.</p><p><br /></p><p>She also talks about drugs, harm reduction, undiagnosed ADHD, the hospitality industry, parental guilt, the coroner’s process, and the kind of grief people often pull away from because they do not know what to say.</p><p><br /></p><p><strong>What you’ll hear in this episode:</strong></p><p>• What Ethan was like before overdose became the headline</p><p>• The moment Margaret found out her son had died</p><p>• Why “addicted to the feeling” can change how we understand substance use</p><p>• The grief spiral of “should have, could have, would have”</p><p>• Why Margaret supports drug testing at festivals and clubs</p><p>• What happens when overdose grief becomes socially uncomfortable</p><p>• How My Condolences helps people support someone who is grieving</p><p><br /></p><p>If you’ve ever loved someone through addiction, feared that knock at the door, or felt abandoned after a loss people did not know how to talk about, this one’s for you.</p><p><br /></p><p><strong>About Margaret Martin</strong></p><p>Margaret Martin is a Western Australia-based social worker and counsellor. After losing her son Ethan to an MDMA overdose at 25, Margaret began creating spaces for grief conversations that are honest, practical and less terrifying to have. </p><p>Through My Condolences, she offers live workshops and one-on-one grief support sessions for people who are grieving or supporting someone through loss. She is also working on projects around parental estrangement and an upcoming podcast titled Unspeakable.</p><p><br /></p><p><strong>Margaret Martin’s website:</strong><a href="http://www.mycondolencesworkshop.com" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><strong> </strong>www.mycondolencesworkshop.com</a></p><p><strong>Email:</strong> <a href="info@mycondolencesworkshop.com" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">info@mycondolencesworkshop.com</a></p><p><br /></p><p><strong>Thank you to our Season 4 sponsors:</strong></p><p><a href="https://coachcarly.com/" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">⁠⁠⁠Coach Carly⁠⁠⁠</a> – Life &amp; mindset coaching | <a href="https://www.elevatebeyondco.com.au" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">⁠⁠⁠Elevate Beyond Co.⁠⁠⁠</a> – Disability support services | <a href="https://www.yourrecovery.au" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">⁠⁠⁠Your Recovery⁠⁠⁠</a> – Addiction recovery support</p><p><br /></p><p><strong>Thank you to our Production Team: </strong></p><p>Video/Audio Editing: <a href="https://www.instagram.com/nevverlandstudios/" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">⁠⁠⁠Nevverland Studio⁠⁠⁠</a> | VA - <a href="https://www.lynebon.com/" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">⁠⁠⁠Lyn Ebon⁠⁠⁠</a></p><p><br /></p><p><strong>Australia Wide Directory of Services: </strong></p><p><strong></strong><a href="https://www.myservices.org.au/" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">⁠⁠⁠https://www.myservices.org.au/⁠⁠⁠</a><strong></strong></p><p><strong>Western Australian AOD Services: </strong></p><p><strong></strong><a href="https://wanada.org.au/greenbook/" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">⁠⁠⁠https://wanada.org.au/greenbo