“I grew up in the heart of America’s opioid epidemic. By age 12, I was incarcerated for the first time. I was so violent, I’d attack my dad, punch holes in the walls. Soon, my daughter had to come visit me in a prison visitation room. Even the most beautiful of situations couldn’t fix how broken I was. One day, I posted about how desperate I was. A couple named Adam and Valerie reached out. These 2 people, and their 6 children, decided to give me a chance.”
‘My beautiful, newborn girl looked me dead in the eye and smiled. Minutes later, I was in the parking lot getting high.’: Man overcomes life-long addiction, ‘My recovery is nothing short of miraculous’
‘You died while we were sleeping. We were merely a few feet down the hall. When we woke to the puppy crying, you were ice cold.’: Mom loses military son to fentanyl overdose, ‘I had no idea how hard it was for you’
“We didn’t know when we went to bed, and you told us you loved us, it would be the last time we saw you alive. You didn’t know either. You only wanted care from the VA. Did you know the priority mail envelope that contained your hearing appointment was finally delivered to me, 4 months after you died? Yeah, you can’t make this up. We applied because of your pain.”
‘The door is locked and the person has been in there a long time.’ I knocked again, harder this time. No answer. I ran in to see a half naked man slouched over on the toilet.’
“At that moment I found myself yelling to him, ‘YOU ARE WORTH MORE THAN THIS’ over and over again.”
‘I have NEVER shared these before. However, too many people are dying. I was DYING. I have friends who need to see this.’
“I just wanted to die. I didn’t realize I was hardly alive.”
‘I feel so free’: Man loses jaw-dropping 234 pounds while overcoming opioid and food addiction, depression, anxiety
“For about 5 months I did not set foot outside. I never thought I’d live to see this day.”
From heroin addict to PTA treasurer mom: ‘I used to stick needles in my neck’
“In the process of dying, I learned that I wanted to live.”
‘She messaged me, ‘Don’t worry. I’ll be home in the morning.’ I told my husband something was wrong. I finally laid down, only to be woken by my doorbell minutes later.’: Mom tragically loses ‘beautiful’ daughter to heroin overdose
“It was 3:44 a.m. I remember walking to the door and seeing a woman standing through the window. I thought it was Ashlyn. As I got closer, I realized it was a woman and a man, both in suits with badges. They were there to tell me my baby had died.”
