Today I got to go with a friend to help rescue a friend from drugs. I am not naive when it comes to things like this and so I did realize that she wasn't going to walk away today. Not because she didn't want to but because of no open beds at detox facilities.
I was asked to go because my friend didn't want to go alone and I used to go to school with this girl plus I have some knowledge of it from family. I knew that it wasn't going to be a pretty site but nothing I have ever seen could compare to this. I was in shock from the moment we pulled up to the house.
The house was a row home that was "run down" to say the least. The door was wooden and so old you could see in at the bottom. We knocked and we heard a voice scream, "who is it?" My friends replied, "It's me." "Me who?" and then another voice screamed for the girl we were there to see.
When she opened the door I could barely recognize her. She is 29 but looked about 45 or 50. Her face was covered in scabs and she was dirty from head to foot. She later told she weighed 92 pounds but that was probably with clothes on. Her finger nails were black from dirt and she hasn't taken a shower in 3 months. When she talked I could see she had no teeth and her gums were black. So you can probably imagine the smell.
I was so focused on her that I didn't even realize we were now standing in a drug house with about 3 people. The house was so dirty and smelled so bad. There were holes in the wall that they had shoved paper or towel in so that you couldn't see outside. The floors were covered with trash and the couches were filthy. I saw that they didn't use the kitchen as a kitchen because my guess is every bit of money they had went to drugs. At one point I looked behind me and on the walls were pornographic pictures hung up as art in their living room. And then I saw the bed that was in the dining room and I started to pray and pray hard.
Just as I thought to myself...I need to get out of her...She said, "we need to take a walk." So we made small talk and then bam the hard truth of the situation was addressed bluntly but with love. She is a heroin addict and needs help because she would rather die than live another day like this. When you come to the decision that death would be better than the sickness, pain and disease that comes with living a life on drugs than you know you need help and you need it fast!
With that being said, there was no way she could have left with us today. Her body is so dependent on heroin that she would be sick almost to death to stop cold turkey. She needs a Methadone detox center to safely rid of body of all the junk she put into it. They were closed until Monday so she is stuck there until then. She is serious about getting clean but she will continue to use until Monday...not because she enjoys the high but because she feeds her body so that she doesn't get sick. That is what you call feeding the addiction.
The only advice I could give her was to try to stay alive until Monday. Even as we left I could feel that she was barely alive. Her body was a hollow shell waiting to die and her eyes were full of pain and torment. I know that if she doesn't go to detox on Monday it will only be a matter of weeks before she is dead.
I pray with every fiber in my being that she doesn't just make it to Monday but that she beats this addiction and changes her life around so that she can walk her destiny! Please pray for her salvation as well as her next few months. I am praying that after detox she makes the decision to go to New Life for Girls.
Coming home I was so filled with bitter sweet emotions. My heart hurt for her but I was rejoicing inside that God saved me and I don't live like that! I don't know what will happen next but I am believing for a transformation of her life!
I was asked to go because my friend didn't want to go alone and I used to go to school with this girl plus I have some knowledge of it from family. I knew that it wasn't going to be a pretty site but nothing I have ever seen could compare to this. I was in shock from the moment we pulled up to the house.
The house was a row home that was "run down" to say the least. The door was wooden and so old you could see in at the bottom. We knocked and we heard a voice scream, "who is it?" My friends replied, "It's me." "Me who?" and then another voice screamed for the girl we were there to see.
When she opened the door I could barely recognize her. She is 29 but looked about 45 or 50. Her face was covered in scabs and she was dirty from head to foot. She later told she weighed 92 pounds but that was probably with clothes on. Her finger nails were black from dirt and she hasn't taken a shower in 3 months. When she talked I could see she had no teeth and her gums were black. So you can probably imagine the smell.
I was so focused on her that I didn't even realize we were now standing in a drug house with about 3 people. The house was so dirty and smelled so bad. There were holes in the wall that they had shoved paper or towel in so that you couldn't see outside. The floors were covered with trash and the couches were filthy. I saw that they didn't use the kitchen as a kitchen because my guess is every bit of money they had went to drugs. At one point I looked behind me and on the walls were pornographic pictures hung up as art in their living room. And then I saw the bed that was in the dining room and I started to pray and pray hard.
Just as I thought to myself...I need to get out of her...She said, "we need to take a walk." So we made small talk and then bam the hard truth of the situation was addressed bluntly but with love. She is a heroin addict and needs help because she would rather die than live another day like this. When you come to the decision that death would be better than the sickness, pain and disease that comes with living a life on drugs than you know you need help and you need it fast!
With that being said, there was no way she could have left with us today. Her body is so dependent on heroin that she would be sick almost to death to stop cold turkey. She needs a Methadone detox center to safely rid of body of all the junk she put into it. They were closed until Monday so she is stuck there until then. She is serious about getting clean but she will continue to use until Monday...not because she enjoys the high but because she feeds her body so that she doesn't get sick. That is what you call feeding the addiction.
The only advice I could give her was to try to stay alive until Monday. Even as we left I could feel that she was barely alive. Her body was a hollow shell waiting to die and her eyes were full of pain and torment. I know that if she doesn't go to detox on Monday it will only be a matter of weeks before she is dead.
I pray with every fiber in my being that she doesn't just make it to Monday but that she beats this addiction and changes her life around so that she can walk her destiny! Please pray for her salvation as well as her next few months. I am praying that after detox she makes the decision to go to New Life for Girls.
Coming home I was so filled with bitter sweet emotions. My heart hurt for her but I was rejoicing inside that God saved me and I don't live like that! I don't know what will happen next but I am believing for a transformation of her life!
4 comments:
Wow. I'm sitting here in stunned silence. It read like a novel or drama on TV, yet it's hard to believe that what you described is real. What a good friend you are to help this girl find her way out.
As an encouragment, a boy in high school was known as the local druggie. We voted him most likely to die first. Lovely.
Anyway, he found me via FB about a year ago. He wanted to tell me that he is clean (he went through Teen Challenge), has a family and he is now a PASTOR! Not only is he a pastor, but he has planted numerous churches in cities around the U.S. His churches/ministries are all in the inner cities and he focuses on reaching out to druggies, prostitutes, etc.
So...let me tell you, if my friend can turn his life around, your friend can too. And, if my friend can be used by God to impact cities around the U.S., God can use your friend too.
One more thing...why in the world is there no help available to your friend just b/c it is a weekend???!!! Surely there is someplace she can go NOW to get the help she needs NOW.
Natalie,
Most detox centers for those who don't have insurance are funded through the state and because their is no budget they can't see her until she files for medical assistance. That office is open on Monday so after the paper work is filled out they will take her right away, they don't wait for it to go through...which is good!
I'm so touched and so very proud of you. You are an amazing woman with so many sides, so many talents and so a great big heart. This friend is lucky to have someone like you who cares. You are such a beauty!
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