A photo showed her overdosing in her car as her son cried. She’s happy it went viral
It was a haunting snapshot of America’s drug addition — an unconscious mother, needle still in hand, overdosed in the front seat of her car where police found her 10-month old son crying in the back seat.
Hope, Ind., Police shared the photo last October to show “the new normal for drug users” and Erika Hurt’s addiction was plastered all over the internet, where many commenters showed no mercy.
They called her “disgusting” and a “scumbag,” and demanded her child be taken away.
She told WTHR that she “had no words” when she first saw the photo go viral.
"I was sitting in jail viewing the picture on all the news stations on TV and was just shocked, humiliated. I had no words," she told WTHR. "I was so embarrassed and hurt. I was miserable.”
A year later, Hurt is celebrating her sobriety and the photo that served as her wake-up call.
Hurt said on Facebook that the photo that shows “the absolute worst moment” of her life actually ended up saving her.
“Today, I am able to focus on the good that came from that picture,” she wrote. “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!”
Hurt shared the photo on Facebook, along with a photo of her with her son and a photo of herself, marking one year of sobriety.
“I've decided to repost the picture simply because it displays exactly what heroin addiction is,” she said on Facebook. “Also because I do not want to ever forget where the road of addiction has taken me. Little did I know that day, my life was about to change, drastically.”
In August, Hurt wrote a Facebook message to the Hope Police Department to thank Officer Jason Tucker for encouraging her sobriety.
“He will never know how much he touched my heart,” she wrote.
For the incident, Hurt pleaded guilty to neglect of a dependent and was given a two-year suspended jail sentence with a required inpatient drug rehab program at the jail. She signed temporary custody of her son over to her mother.
On Thursday, President Donald Trump declared the U.S. opioid epidemic “a public health emergency” that kills approximately 100 people a day. He said it was the worst drug crisis in U.S. history.
"As Americans we cannot allow this to continue," Trump said in a speech Thursday.
This story was originally published October 27, 2017 at 2:40 PM with the headline "A photo showed her overdosing in her car as her son cried. She’s happy it went viral."