Before her son became world famous, Pattie Mallette’s own story was one of hardship: a difficult childhood marked by trauma, followed by years of depression and struggles with drink and drugs.
She has spoken about how abuse can leave survivors blaming themselves and feeling damaged, and how substance use deepened her distress — including a suicide attempt in her teenage years.
At seventeen she became pregnant, and although others pressed her to end the pregnancy, she refused, saying it was not a choice she could make — and chose to raise her child alone, without knowing how she would manage.
Her son was born in 1994, and she has said hearing his first cry was like hearing music. Her defining achievement, she believes, was not his later fame but the love, faith and determination with which she gave him a future.