Addiction is a terrifying disease. For the people it affects, it can ruin their lives. One woman took to Love What Matters as a way of sharing her story and how she finally found a reason to live in her son.
Taylor Bennett says she believes that addiction was a part of her from a very young age.
As a child, she got her “high” from things like lying and stealing. But as she got into her teens, she was already turning to alcohol and drugs.
It started out, as it always does, with alcohol and milder substances.
“My friends at this time were starting to take pills like Percocets,” she said. “I was so upset. I always said that was a line I wouldn’t cross. At this point I wanted to stop so badly but literally couldn’t, I was insane and couldn’t differentiate the true from the false.”
It got even worse when Bennett went to college.
There, her life was a never-ending party. She tried harder and harder drugs and eventually dropped out of school. As much as she wanted to stop, the pull of substances was irresistible.
She met a man who was also a drug user and they moved in together. They couldn’t make ends meet. Sometimes, they were living in homes infested with bedbugs while at other times, they were homeless. They were even running drugs across state lines to make money — and of course, to get more drugs.
Then, Bennett’s mother intervened and helped her check into a rehabilitation facility.
“Am I actually insane?” she asked her. “Should I go to a mental hospital? I just can’t stop.”
Although the rehab was a great experience, it didn’t last for Bennett. Even after receiving her 90-day chip, she relapsed. She overdosed six times and returned to her mom to help her detox once again. One day, while battling terrible withdrawal, she texted her dealer to meet her.
“That last overdose literally killed me,” said Bennett. “I was gone for 11 minutes, and if it wasn’t for my dealer staying with me calling 911 and giving me chest compressions until they arrived, I would have been brain dead.”
The paramedics administered Narcan at least three times but to no avail.
Finally, they used a drill to pump Narcan directly into her bone marrow. Bennett awoke to the news that she’d a drill in her shoulder.
Bennett said she had been pulled from death by something supernatural. Now, three years later, she’s never looked back. She hasn’t touched any substances, and she’s received something special to give her strength…or rather, someone.
She’s now a mother to a little boy.
Her partner is also in recovery. Together, they’re forging forward. Bennett says she draws strength from the love she has for her son.
“He is my reason now, whenever I feel like giving up or I start to lose hope, I look at him,” she said. “He is my whole heart. I live a simple life today and I’m so content.”
She also runs an Instagram account where she shares updates about her life in recovery.
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