“I was 18-years old when I met him. I moved in with this man who was 17 years older. He told me he loved me. I believed him. He convinced me to do things, including recording our sexual encounters. ‘These are just for us to watch,’ he promised. I checked his browser history, horrified at what I found. Our sexual encounters were being posted on a pornography site.”
‘Mom, something awful is happening to me.’ They found embalming fluid in my system, causing me to black out.’: Young woman overcomes meth addiction, hidden sexual abuse on camera, ‘My awful memories no longer haunt me, I am healed’
‘The day I called my son a junkie. Twice. I’m not the same mom I was yesterday.’: Mother pleads with son to enter rehab for heroin addiction, ‘What is your plan? Prison? That’s next.’
“I start going through the bag he left at my house. I find everything. All his empty capsules, his spoons, his syringes. I realize he disposes the heroin capsules in cigarette boxes. There is so much. I feel like I can’t breathe. The tears fall as the images hit me in the face. My son. My son is a heroin addict. Knowing it and seeing it are completely different things. I’m not the same mom I was yesterday.”
‘Mom!’ At 3 a.m. I noticed an entire SWAT team creeping around my car. Tears flooded my eyes.’: Woman overcomes battle with addiction, ‘the strength I’ve gained from my pain is priceless’
“After a 6-day bender with literally no sleep, I took my last hit and swallowed a gram of molly. It ended up being bath salts. My poor mom didn’t hesitate to answer my call. Sobbing, I kept telling her to be quiet. I was homeless, starving, and had walked away from my children. The SWAT team was never there. It was all in my head. I have absolutely no idea who that girl was.”
‘He accused me of the baby not being his. Didn’t want anything to do with us. I’d be dead if I hadn’t gotten pregnant.’: Single mom says daughter saved her life from heroin addiction, ‘I thank God every single day for her’
“The ‘love of my life’ went to prison. ‘Why?! Finally, I can get away from him! And now I’m carrying his child!?’ I was so scared. Once I had my daughter, I didn’t say a word. Until one night, she was 3 months old, he randomly shows up at my door at 9:00 p.m. When I opened it, my heart felt like it was in my throat. He just stood there and stared at her as I held her in my arms. She was his twin.”
‘I’ll shoot you up for the first time,’ the man I was sleeping with offered. I agreed. I lived a double life.’: 25-year-old overcomes prostitution to feed addiction, now manages sober living home for women
“She was a stripper, and she introduced me to the lifestyle. I was infatuated by it. Fast money, flashy life, and drugs galore. It wasn’t long before I started working as a dancer in the strip club, and my life took an even darker turn. I was in the bathroom doing lines of cocaine. She pulled out another bag of drugs that looked different. ‘It’s heroin. Do you want to try it?’ Biggest mistake of my life.”
‘Are you KIDDING? Don’t be a prude. Just take the drink!’ I shook my head no. I was weak. I took it.’: Woman loses father to alcohol poisoning, ‘it is my right not to drink, please respect it’
“At 11, they draped a pale, unfamiliar version of my dad in white. ‘Are you alone?’ I watched a flurry of red and blue police lights dance across my ceiling. Alcohol poisoning. He never returned. You knew my past. Yet, you judged me when I turned down your drink. Did you know, I saw my father in my nightmares that night? Did you know, I was smiling, but dying on the inside? My trauma is more important than your right to a fun time.”
‘Oh my God, she’s alive!?’ The overdose killed me. I was gone for 11 minutes. My dealer hovered over me.’: Stay-at-home mom beats heroin addiction, my son ‘is my reason now’ to stay clean
“I was 95 pounds soaking wet and my face was all picked apart when I got a phone call from my mom, tricking me into coming home. I knew something was up, but I was so tired and ready to surrender – I went willingly. When I got there, it was like an intervention. ‘I’m begging you, please stay the night.’ I had no choice. I finally understood.”
‘I am meant to be a heroin addict forever.’ I truly believed it. ‘What happened to me?’ That damn needle.’: Woman overcomes opioid addiction, fulfills childhood dream of becoming pro wrestler, ‘I’m living my wildest dreams’
“Senior year of high school. I felt sick. It spiraled completely out of control. I’m sniffing heroin and smoking crack cocaine like it’s going to get me into Harvard or something. I looked at my father and told him, ‘I need help.’ My dad wanted nothing to do with me, he was done. That really hurt.”
‘A bartender who doesn’t drink? You can’t be good at this.’ These bottles nearly killed me.’: Confessions of a sober bartender after she almost lost her life to alcoholism
“Customers get offended when I politely decline a shot. I normally get an eye roll with a response like, ‘I don’t trust a bartender who doesn’t drink.’ Here is my answer. Alcohol nearly killed me. I was a ‘drink til I fall off my barstool’ type of drinker. Hell, I could be taking a tequila shower and I still wouldn’t change my mind.”
‘Are you okay?’ I was visibly a junkie. This man took me to his home where his girlfriend was waiting.’: Woman reminisces on stranger’s ‘beautiful act of kindness’ during active addiction
“I used to sleep under this bridge. One day, at a gas station, I was visibly bleeding from a fight. This woman gently dressed my wounds. They gave me clothes, a soda, and a sandwich. I was literally too hungry to play shy, so I scarfed it down and chugged until I hiccuped. In that moment of pure desperation, they breathed life back into me.”
