Nick was taken from his natural birth mother before he was one year old during what has become known as the 60 scoop. In those days, if an urban indigenous home had any contact with authorities, Social Services usually got involved.

The story according to my mother before she died:

  She had left the house leaving 9 brothers alone - Huey and Nicholas Ron were the youngest, then Joseph, Beryl, Christopher, Nathan, Richard, Stuart, Billy and Blair. A small fire broke out in the house to which the fire department attended along with Social Services.

  When she returned home, Irene Rivers found to her horror, that all of her children had been apprehended. There was a note on the door giving instructions as to how to get them back, however she was too devastated by the abduction to comply.

  It was the policy of the Adopt Indian Metis (AIM) program to move children often in order to prevent familial ties being formed between the children and foster families set up to be temporary placements. As a result of this policy, Nick was moved 15 times between his first being apprehended and being adopted at age 6 by his grade one teacher. It is now known that at least two other families made applications to adopt Nicky, including the last and longest foster family he was in. Since economic considerations were given first priority, the Helliwell's easily won out as both Mr. and Mrs. Helliwell had professional careers.

 Because of the sociological damage done in the first five years of his life, Nick suffered tremendous mental, emotional and sociological trauma throughout his adoption placement. Unable to cope and finding no adequate support or help to address growing problems, the Helliwell family spiraled into a dysfunctional crisis. Nick was finally removed from the home in 1980 when, in response to tremendous family turmoil, he pulled out a knife on a teacher while on a school outing. He was removed from the Helliwell home and was placed for 6 months in Dales House, a Regina group home meant for troubled teenagers. After Dales House, Nick moved an additional 10 times before exiting care at the age of 21. Custody of youth is occasionally extended when the youth agrees to pursue post secondary education. Thus Nick had 25 different placements through his first 21 years.

  Having lost his adopted family at the age of 13, Nick began using drugs to ease his pain. Meeting his birth family at the age of 19, Nick became heavily involved in the street lifestyle that they were involved in. All the while he maintained school or various menial jobs. A violent man given to heavy drug and alcohol binges that could last a week or more, Nick's life was headed in a very dangerous direction.

It was in this period that he met Vivian who would become his future wife and life long soul mate. Together, they faced many things in efforts to leave the life in which they were trapped, by both addictions and profligate family ties.