“I was searching for him in the streets,” Mehdi Malkaj recounts through tears his son’s battle with drugs

Actor Mehdi Malkaj has shared one of the longest and most painful battles of his life.

He spoke about his son’s struggle with drug addiction.

Without dramatization and without playing the victim, the renowned actor spoke as a father on the “Grida Duma Podcast,” using simple and honest words that carry great weight.

“The most beautiful and happiest thing in my life right now is the moment when it was proven that my son won a battle,” Malkaj says, calling this victory greater than any personal or professional success.

He recounts that his son was only 15 years old when he first tried drugs, at a time when no one truly understood what they were or how destructive they could become.

“Adolescents fall in love with what they see, not with what it really is,” the actor says, describing addiction as a false love that lasted longer than it should have.

Malkaj speaks openly about sleepless nights, endless searches through the streets of Tirana alongside his wife, and efforts to be his son’s friend rather than just an authoritarian parent. A long, exhausting, and uncertain road, where nothing was guaranteed.

One of the most touching moments of his story is linked to the relationship between brother and sister. According to Malkaj, the sister’s love became a powerful light of hope and healing for his son.

“He is now full of life. He has brought light, joy, and happiness into our home,” Malkaj says, recalling the first family vacations after many years, when his son was behind the wheel, serious and responsible.

In the end, Mehdi Malkaj delivers a strong and rare message about how people talk about drugs.

“Never curse someone by saying ‘may your children fall into drugs.’ It is a huge war, a very big one,” he says, acknowledging that vigilance never truly ends, but believing that love, family, and time can work miracles.

“KORÇA BOOM”