Gary Mezo says he’s been through hell trying to get his two-year-old-son back to Canada but he won’t stop fighting.
The 39-year-old owner of Kilred Winding Industry came to Canada in 1990 after his family left the communist country of Hungary in the ‘70s. Since coming to his adopted home, Mezo built a life for himself and started to make roots in Thunder Bay. He met a Hungarian woman and together they had a baby.
Gergely Richard Mezo was born on New Year’s Eve in 2009.
Mezo says the first couple of months were happy. He would often call home after he went to work to check in on the newborn. But a couple months later, he says his fiancée would stop answer his calls.
Growing suspicious, Mezo placed a GPS tracking device on the car she was using. He discovered the car went to a home address. He says he followed the GPS coordinates to the home and discovered his fiancée allegedly with another man.
But that was just the beginning of his nightmare because after a series of events, his ex- fiancée fled the country to Hungary with their son, he says.
“I have spent thousands of dollars on this because I have been fighting for my son,” Mezo says. “I almost feel like I’m in a communist country because it’s just corrupt. I feel sad, upset. I can’t explain it. How would you feel if your child was taken from you? I’ve gone through hell.”
Mezo says he went to the Thunder Bay police but they provided little help. Initially, his ex- fiancée tried to persuade the police that he abused her and his son, which Mezo denies ever happened.
He says if he had abused his family then the court wouldn’t have allowed him custody of his son.
But having the courts on his side hasn’t helped bring his son back to Canada.
“What good is to have a court order here in Canada if nobody obeys it,” he says. “It’s only worth the paper it’s written on.”
Mezo says he didn’t have much help when he turned to police in Hungary either. Mezo alleges that his ex- fiancée told police that he wasn’t the father. Mezo demanded a paternity test, which the Hungarian police agreed to.
He says he’s lucky that he was financially well off because the whole ordeal has made a huge dent in his bank account. His phone bill alone through roaming charges was around $11,000.
Mezo has been to Hungary a number of times and has even seen his son although only for a short period of time. After nearly a year a part, his son still recognized him and smiled when he saw him. Mezo says that was one of the most beautiful feeling he’s ever experienced.
To help deal with the situation, Mezo turned to Facebook and posted his frustration on his account. On his wall, he posted that if he had to he would break the law to get his son back.
Many of his friends posted words of encouragement.
JoAnne Nygard wrote she knew in her heart that he would be able to bring his son home.
“Witnessing all of the corruption and deceitfulness that you have been battling these past few weeks has been horrific,” she says on Facebook.
Tabitha Takeda also wrote words of encouragement and says she’s ashamed to be a Canadian because of the way he’s been treated.
Even with his friends and family behind him, Mezo says he still feels miserable and that won’t change until his son returns home to Thunder Bay.
“Every day I go to his room and I feel like crying,” he says. “But I`ll keep fighting.”
