A young mother is on the receiving end of much praise today for sharing her incredible heroin recovery story on Reddit.
The 24-year-old woman shared an image of herself from over two years ago when she was in the depths of addiction and had been sent to jail for 36 days.
“On June 11th 2014 I went to jail for 36 days on a contempt charge. Without delving too deep I'll just say that I was in a really abusive relationship that led to my daughter going to live with my mother. She is my whole world, so when that happened I fell into a deep depression and leant to my abusive boyfriend for emotional support. His answer to making me feel better was heroin. After 8 months of daily use and a few half-assed attempts at getting clean, I told the judge preceding over the guardianship case of my daughter that I had been using and that I needed help. He found me in contempt of court and put me in the county jail until he could find me a bed in a rehab. From there I went to the best rehab in my state. Recovery has been an uphill battle, but now I am at a point where it all just feels like a bad dream,” writes the woman.
The woman writes incredibly that she decided to share her story because she realizes so many other people could be afflicted with addiction.
“When I found my mugshot I felt so bad for that girl,” she writes.
“I wanted to hug her and tell her it will get better. I then realized that girl is still out there somewhere. She isn't me any more though. There are other addicts out there who are in the same circle of hell that I was in in that mug shot. So even if one of those people see this and get their shit together, then it was worth it.”
Thankfully, her recovery has been successful and she has managed to regain custody of her daughter.
“She lives with me again. She's handled everything well. Although with her being so young I don't think she fully grasps the whole situation. When she gets older I will tell her the truth and make sure she is prepared to deal with handling her own emotions and life to avoid going down the same path her father and I chose. And yes, she is very loved and very happy,” writes the woman.