Pubdate: Sat, 28 Nov 1998
Source: Daily Telegraph (Australia)
Page: 4
Contact:  Matthew Horan, in Canberra

THE DAY DAD SAVED MY LIFE

Prodigal Son Tells Why He Is So Grateful

AT FIRST Mark Niceski couldn't understand, or forgive, his father for
trying to rescue him from a life of drugs.

He was shocked when his father Harry armed himself with a plank of
wood and stormed a house Mark was in after he heard he was taking heroin.

After tipping a screen door from its hinges, Harry dragged Mark from
the house, menacing the other teenagers in the house with the plank.

"I was really angry towards him. I kept asking 'why, why did you have
to do this?'," Mark, 18, said.

"But after a week or so it slowly dawned on me that while he didn't
really go about it the right way, this was someone who cared for me
deeply."

"I suppose you could almost say that dad saved my life in a
way."

Yesterday 45-year-old Harry, a respected mall businessman and
president of the Queanbeyan Macedonian community, sat proudly in his
Queanbeyan home with his arms around his prodigal son.

"Usually I don't go to sleep until my sons are home," he
said.

"But now I don't have to worry about where they are."

Harry's act of love in January saw him convicted on Thursday of three
counts of assault and placed on a two-year good behaviour bond.

Mark stayed away from home for about a month after Harry's rescue
attempt in January.

"I couldn't find any answers at home, so I went out to find them and
ended up with a big slap in the face from reality - I found out that
everything wasn't fine and dandy outside," he said.

"It took me a while before I realised that the family you've got is
the only one.  If I couldn't reconcile with them then I would have
missed an opportunity."

Mark said he had dropped out of year 12 in the middle of last year
because of pressures over the HSC.

He admitted taking some drugs, but said the rumours his father heard
about him taking heroin were wrong.

"The drugs contributed to me leaving school ... I have experimented
with drugs, as many kids have," he said.

"I think the reports dad was getting back got too much out of
hand."

"But the fact that I left school and the drugs, that was all building
up at the same time.

"There was a bit of pressure with the HSC coming up - it's not an
excuse - but I guess I just slipped out of it for a while.

"But all the rumours that were going around, I think he had a reason
to be concerned."

Mark is now planning to go to a college next year to study business
and graphic design, something at which, Harry produly says his son
shows talent.

"There is a new level of respect between us now," Mark
said.

"It is one which was there before but I took my family for granted and
I didn't realise it until later."

Harry smiled: "You can take it as part of growing up."

Harry admits he might have been a bit hot-headed when he tried to
rescue his son.

"My wife said go and get Mark, but be careful," he
said.

"It might have been a good idea to take her advice.  But we all learn
from our mistakes."
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Checked-by: Patrick Henry