The mother in this viral overdose photo is speaking out with good news one year later

November 1, 2017 8:16 PM

"I do not ever want to forget where the road of addiction has taken me."

You may think that there’s no good news about the opioid crisis in the U.S.—but one mom, a former addict herself, is opening up and giving hope to the public with her story.

Erika Hurt, 26, who was photographed last year unconscious in the driver's seat of a car with a needle in her hand and her 10-month-old child in the backseat, posted on Facebook that she's been sober for one year.

“As you all know, I overdosed in my car at a parking lot.. Yes, with my precious baby boy inside the car with me.. but what you may not know is, that overdose happened one year ago TODAY! I’ve decided to repost the picture simply because it displays exactly what heroin addiction is. Also because I do not want to ever forget where the road of addiction has taken me,” she said.

The photo shows three images. One is the photo of her near-fatal overdose a year ago, which went viral after it was released to the public by police, a move they say was motivated by a desire to bring light to the problems of addiction in her town. “They exposed my addiction to the whole world,” she told NBC News. “I thought it was terrible.”

But today she reposted that photo triumphantly. The other two photos alongside show her smiling, vibrant, a healthy today, alone and with her little boy.

“Little did I know that day, my life was about to change, drastically. Today, I am able to focus on the good that came from that picture. Today, I am a mother to my son, again. Today, I am able to be grateful to actually have solid proof where addiction will only lead you, and today I am able to say that I am ONE YEAR SOBER!” she continued.

The opioid crisis is at the forefront of the public’s minds right now as President Trump took steps to declare the opioid crisis a public health emergency on Thursday, according to the New York Times. “No part of our society—not young or old, rich or poor, urban or rural—has been spared this plague of drug addiction and this horrible, horrible situation that’s taken place with opioids,” Trump said.

According to the most recent statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 91 Americans die every day from an opioid overdose. (Opioids consist of prescription opioids and heroin.) Six out of 10 drug overdose deaths involve an opioid. And the problem has risen sharply over the last 15 years. The number of overdose deaths attributed to opioids has quadrupled since 1999.

Erika ended by saying she has many people to call out for helping her on her road to recovery, and that support is what helped make sobriety a reality for her. We are here to congratulate her for her amazing recovery.