It goes without saying that drug addiction isn’t glamorous, but one brave former heroin addict shared a series of personal photographs of herself in the midst of her addiction in a bid to urge others to get clean.
And the photos will hopefully make a real impact on anyone going through it, because they’re scary, depicting a mom who passed out, with sores all over her face.
42-year-old Melissa Lee Matos is a self-confessed addict, who at her lowest was like “a dead girl” who barely left the house and forgot to feed her children. In a heartfelt post, Melissa called herself “a needle junkie” who ended up covered in scabs and sores; the tell-tale signs of heroin addiction.
Writing on Facebook in a post that has since gone viral, having been shared thousands of times, Melissa wrote: “I have NEVER shared these before. I’m not sure I ever intended to.”
“This is extremely hard for me in so many ways. However, too many people are dying. I have friends who need to see this. It goes beyond what my words can accomplish.”
“My name is Melissa, and I’m an addict. I have been clean and in recovery for just about a year and five months. Below, you will find extremely disturbing images of me while in active addiction. This was what I looked like, daily, for years.”
“This is what my husband dealt with. This is what my little girls walked in on. This is what my family and friends saw, on the rare occasions I left the house. I was SICK. I was DYING. I was so far gone I thought I could NEVER recover. I was so lost I couldn’t imagine a life without using. I just wanted to die. I didn’t realise I was hardly alive.”
Making a direct message to people currently addicted to drugs, Melissa told them, “this is my plea to you.”
“Look at these pictures. Images of a dead girl. A needle junkie with a habit so fierce she spent days and nights in a self induced coma on her bathroom floor. A girl who would spend every cent on dope and forget she had kids to feed and take care of. A girl who lost every single thing she ever had. A girl who was so sick she thought she would never ever find a way out, until she did.”
Melissa is in recovery today and can recognize how detrimental her actions were. She is sharing the ugly truth to serve as a cautionary tale to others who might be at risk for walking down a similarly dark path.
Matos included her email for people to contact her and share their own stories of struggling with addiction.
Begging others to get help to make a change in the same way she did, Melissa reassured people that she has “now found life” and that they can too. “There is HOPE. There is recovery. There is freedom and serenity and you are worthy of it,” she said.
“Please, please reach out. You do not have to suffer any longer. You are not alone.”
It’s certainly a powerful way to make her point, so here’s hoping people in need take her advice.
Sources: OpposingViews, Daily Mail, The Huffington Post, Melissa Lee Matos/Facebook
