A former war vet, from the Iraq war. He'd been an alcoholic before joining the Canadian forces and had gone sober. During his tour he'd gotten drunk and caused some of his unit to get killed via an IED. He was injured in the attack but when he was found, hours later, he was sober and claimed not to know what happened. In truth his memory was foggy but he knew the details. John's injuries consisted of severe burns to his face and torso, mainly on the left side. Blindness in the left eye and complete loss of function in his left hand, his dominant hand, and partial loss of function in his left arm. He was given a medical discharge and went home to his wife Anne and 1 year old son Charlie. His six months in Iraq had changed him for the worse. He was back to drinking but had also started smoking and abusing prescription pain killers. He soon realized his wife and son would be better off without him, quitting his bad habits never occurred to him, so he left, leaving only the papers she required to transfer his army pension to her. He traveled around the country doing day labour and transient work. Staying in hostels and homeless shelters. His pain killer addiction soon changed to street drugs and he narrowly avoided several arrests, only truly worrying because he didn't want Anne to know. Now, almost 7 years since his discharge, John returns home. He is suffering from severely progressed lung cancer, at least that's what the doctors he talked to said, and he's come home to see his wife and son one last time before he purposely ODs. John views them from afar through a beat up pair of thrift store binoculars then drives to an abandoned church on the outskirts of town. That's where he starts.