The Woman In This Viral Heroin Overdose Picture Just Celebrated 3 Years Of Sobriety
The mother pictured in a viral overdose photo in 2016 is celebrating three years of sobriety.
Erika Hurt credits Narcan for saving her life the day she overdosed in her car.
She says she became addicted to opioids at age 15.
In 2016, Indiana mom Erika Hurt became the face of the opioid crisis, when police released a photo of her slumped in the front seat of her car following a heroin overdose. Now, she's going viral again, this time with a Facebook post celebrating three years of sobriety.
"While I can admit that my son was unfortunately NOT enough to keep me sober then, he is my motivation today," she wrote in the post. "Had Narcan not been available to me; or had someone who felt that I DIDN'T DESERVE Narcan been there that day, I would have NEVER had the chance to get sober and my son would be growing up without ever knowing his mom." Narcan is the brand name of naloxone, a medication used to block opioids and save patients from fatal overdoses.
Hurt told Inside Edition that she became addicted to opioids at age 15, after a prescription for pain medication ran out. “I started stealing to support my habit; I was going to any measure to support my next fix,” Hurt said. “I finally realized I had an addiction and had a problem that needed medical attention at 21 years old.”
When she was struggling with addiction, she said she wasn't able to be fully present as a parent, either. "I was very mentally absent," she told TODAY. "I didn’t play with [my son] or show him attention. And I took him on drug deals."
Now, her son is the reason she is sober, following years of attending Narcotics Anonymous meetings and time living in a sober community.
“What caused me to have the true want and desire to stay sober was my son,” she told Inside Edition. “Me being away from him really hurt our bond. I missed his first birthday, I missed his first Thanksgiving, I missed his first steps, his first words—each time he hit a new milestone, I had to live that painful moment of not being there for him.”
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