Podcast of 2 friends in Sudbury, Ont., shares their story of addiction and forgiveness

Warning: This story includes details of intimate partner violence.

Two friends from Sudbury, Ont., hope their new video podcast can show people that it's possible to come full circle from the lows of active addiction.

In the podcast aptly titled Full Circle, Jamie-Lee Thibert and Melissa MacMillan talk about their unlikely friendship, with all of its ups and downs.

The pair met in 2011 when Thibert was visiting her mom and heard some screaming from another apartment in the building.

MacMillan said she was addicted to opioids at the time and in an abusive relationship.

"There was a domestic situation between my partner and I. He hurt me pretty badly," she said.

"He hit me in the head with a dresser drawer and knocked me unconscious. I was coming in and out of it. I had kind of made my way to the bathroom and started screaming."

When she heard the screams, Thibert called 911.

Police and paramedics arrived and brought MacMillan to the hospital.

I went right from labour delivery into the mental institution.- Melissa MacMillan

A few days later, after she had been discharged from the hospital, MacMillan thanked Thibert for saving her life.

"Not too long after that, I guess we had become pregnant, both of us at the same time, and ended up bonding over that," Thibert said.

At that time, MacMillan said, she was homeless and addicted to intravenous drugs.

"So I was doing any kind of opiate pills that I could get my hands on and doing sex work in order to fuel my addiction."

The bumpy road after adoption

After her son Kai was born eight years ago, she said, child protection services intervened right away.

"I went right from labour delivery into the mental institution," MacMillan said.

Although she was a single mother with three of her own children at the time, Thibert started the process to adopt Kai.

"In April of 2018, Melissa signed over full custody to me," she said.

MacMillan didn't become sober until 2021.

"There was that moment in the podcast where I said, like, 'Sometimes I wish you would have died in a ditch somewhere,'" Thibert said.

"And that sounds cruel to say, but it would have made things so much easier because I was so terrified that she was going to come back and take my son."

Thibert said the years before MacMillan's recovery were difficult.

"Even though she made the decision initially, she started accusing me of stealing her baby," she said.

"And she was making posts about me on social media and TikToks about me, saying really not so nice things. It took a while for her to get to the point that she is at and it's definitely a lot better now."

MacMillan also has three older daughters she had to give up when she was homeless and addicted to opioids.

But today, she has relationships with her children and is grateful to the people, including Thibert, who took over their care.

"If I didn't have these amazing people around me who protected my children from me and from my addiction, my girls would not be as well rounded as they are today," she said.

"They all struggle. It's probably not easy being a kid in 2025. But considering their history, considering what they went through, there are very well-rounded kids."

MacMillan said there are households across Canada with similar stories, and hopes she can help address the stigma that addicted mothers face.

"I try to tell people, that like, the person you were when you made those choices is not the person you are now in recovery and you can't live the rest of your life with this guilt," she said.

"And if other people have opinions as to what you did in the deepest, darkest, most debilitating mental health crisis a human can go through, if they wanna judge you because of that, most of the time it's a projection."

For anyone affected by family or intimate partner violence, there is support available through crisis lines and local support services. ​​If you're in immediate danger or fear for your safety or that of others around you, please call 911.