Taranaki mum's triump 'I DRAGGED MY SON AWAY FROM DRUGS!'

Talented singer Unity reveals how she used her troubled past to rescue her boy Kalin from a deadly addiction

- Cloe Willetts

When Kalin Wara stood W on stage at his great uncle's recent 80th birthday bash, dressed in full glamorous drag, with his mum Unity and boyfriend Alex McLennaghan by his side, the Taranaki cabaret performer felt more alive than ever.

While professional singer Unity belted out a soulful number, the boys brought some sparkle as back-up dancers, grooving around on stage and interacting outrageously with the audience.

"It wasn't an event where you'd usually have drag queens," laughs talented entertainer Unity, 44, who had invited Kalin's drag persona "FantaC" and Alex's diva alter ego "Chai" to perform with her at the family event. "But we rocked it!" However, what made the joyous, glitzy evening even more extraordinary was how far Kalin, 23, has come from a few years ago, when he was an unemployed drug addict, couch-surfing his way around Australia's Gold Coast and injecting methamphetamine every second day.

It was his dedicated mum Unity - also a mother to Elijah, 13, and Hendrix, 12 - who saved him from this miserable life, using tools she'd learnt from her own troubled past to help her eldest boy beat his deadly addiction.