Intervention: Most Viewed Moments of 2022 | A&E

my name is Brett I'm 20 years old and I live in Fairdale Kentucky this is a little girl's bike I like it though Brett is technically my cousin but I Look to Him more as a little brother you know we grew up together he's funny outgoing you know we've had good times oh my God bread is my grandson that in my mind he's never grown up he's still just a little boy Brett feels a whole in my heart I get it yeah we need to know that don't we Brett always used to be honest and I think he's still on us now if you confront him with something he will tell you the truth yeah I stole it but uh the drugs have changed him Pharaoh used to be a you know a tight-run little Community but now it's just overrun by drugs I'm currently addicted to heroin and methamphetamines I have no idea how often he uses but I know he uses every day whatever he can use hands on it doesn't matter to him about a year ago he went out the back door and I seen the bottom of his feet on the grounded by his mom's truck my husband ran out there and brought it already quit breathing I did narcanon by my husband pumped his chest and waited for the ambulance to come that's the scariest thing that I've ever been through in my life because his lips were already blue he was he looked dead I'm doing so good health-wise I got hepatitis C cellulitis he weighs 96 pounds he's Skin and Bones his eyes are sunk back in his head he just he looks horrible if Brad doesn't stop using he is absolutely gonna die he will not make it to c21. oh I just see my mom every once in a while and I can my mom is cool she's really independent and never really been like this low life where I'm at now so I'll see somebody to look out to prior to die to the end of my mom my dad's never been around he walked out when I was younger so I'm sweating there and that's how I was you've been up online or something baby you don't look good I'm tired foreign you need to go to bed you don't need to do no Ice Dude Michelle can't deal with Brett's addiction and she just shuts down and she talks horrible to Brett then he wants to shut down it's a vicious circle is what it is Brett lives with his mammal and with his mom it's kind of like a back and forth game when Sharon makes me mad then he goes running to his mother's and then when she makes him mad it's like just back and forth back and forth you look exhausted over well man I've had enough stress shut up Brent [Music] so overwhelming man he's using opiates he acts crazy um he's he's gray he looks terrible yeah I can't do this you all I'm sorry I can't do it what's wrong together a fair feel too uncomfortable to do this I can't do this I don't think for everyone to say yes to treatment as his mother is not there this is his last chance this is his absolute last chance sorry his mom is bipolar okay and his dad is an alcoholic okay Brett's dad was never around when he was growing up he was always out doing something different he never had time for breath his father not being there for the past 18 years I think it's kind of taken a toll on him he's never obviously sat down and talked to me about it and he don't ever talk about his dad but I feel like he thinks about him a lot and wonders why is he not there why don't he answer my calls why don't he check on me you know what happened what went wrong Michelle contact an intervention she thought that that's what's the only thing she could do that was left for her to do to help bread so she got it all started and then backed out and she's put it all on me now Michelle had a boyfriend that moved in there and he uh come in one night and he beat up Michelle I walk in and he's snapping on top of her back you know like punted her like a football kicked her in her mouth while she's down on the ground I just seen the blood all over the floor seen her crying I didn't know what to do you know I could have beat him up if I tried I think I ran up to him and hit him or something you know but I was just a kid so I didn't like it really faced him Brad tried to break him up and he beat bread up too he went to jail for domestic violence the next when I talked to my mom he's talking in the background where she she had went and bonded him out I was still mad about him like how could you be sitting there with him you know are you crazy to end result is shell recoups she gets better breath he may carry that with him the rest of his life and she done forgot about him I was just heartbroken you know that was my mom that was all you know all I had for real it just it's whatever from then on I don't know and I wouldn't you know this is before drugs I think I just mentally just shut down for real I'm gonna come down a minute don't come in here I need a minute sweetie yeah I need a minute that's what I'm saying I know I'm not I'm not coming in no no I need him but I need you to hear me going through something right now I need you don't say I need privacy when brats on heroin are opiate he's kind of like a zombie like when Brett's on meth his mood swings crazy he gets very violent throwing stuff stomping screaming hollering back up y'all go go outside right now I'm doing something man I'm done with this [Music] I'm Heather good to meet you absolutely but I walked in the door and saw Michelle I was relieved and grateful to see her sitting there Brett's had so many abandonment issues and it's vital that everyone who's participating in the intervention show up and be an active participant some memo hey buddy Brett hi I'm Heather it's good to meet you I think you already know that I love you more than life itself and you're the most important person in my life I worry about you can't sleep you will make it through another night I mean constant fear losing you and it makes my life hell I think you already understand that you have a disease that is bigger than you that's why I'm asking you to get the help you need today please if it's a Once in lifetime opportunity and you can finally begin to live life the way you should be I love you more than anything in this world will you do it just please will you go for us please go bread please you're tearing these people up and you don't give a you don't give a about no no look at me look at me look at me I love you I love you too I want you healthy I want you happy you ain't straight you're not you're breaking everybody down with you you don't belong in jail and you don't belong in a homeless shelter and you don't belong in the war Michael you've got a choice to make now I know the games you play out all the money was taken out of my wallet even though I don't say anything but we're not going to stand quietly by especially me anymore to me today changes the whole thing you either accept the help but if you don't you've gotta you've gotta leave I don't know where you're gonna go or what you're gonna do but you're not going to live here anymore and you won't be allowed at my house either [Music] right I don't want the camera on though this is what I was afraid that was I know why just told me why you wouldn't go I understand I understand this is a big thing I understand it listen to me you go down there you do the days they tell you do you come back you got your room you got your job you got everything if you don't go you ain't got a room you ain't got a job so he just went in your bag and stole more of your needles and now he's in the other room and I just think it has to stop did you take some needles out of my that means he's shooting up in your house right now going right after this all right so you promised you're gonna go to treatment yes I'm going to treatment yes okay I think the very best okay absolutely okay you ready let's go we're over that way this way baby wrong way if we get to the airport let me know we love you oh yeah we got it she has everything another piece I left for myself okay I think the addiction's got him so bad right now he ain't really hearing what anybody says to him it's like he don't even acknowledge it so I don't I'm not sure I know it made me feel like that's not my son addiction has total control over him no the nurse got it go get I'm calling the cops dog you're going to jail I swear to God you are calling the cops right here please thank you so much I know what you were trying to do it do we have the um child locks on in this back door let's go thank you when the cop got here I was apprehensive I didn't know if Brett was going to end up going to jail or getting that car and go and I think that probably was ultimately what Made bread go ahead and leave [Music] so we're just leaving La we're on our way to the airport to go to Philly I'm Amber Rose I'm here to help my friend Tina we grew up in South Philly together and she's addicted to heroin and crack I am a model I'm a philanthropist I'm an actress and I'm an entrepreneur but fame money none of that matters when someone's addicted to drugs I can buy a rehab center for Tina but she has to want to go I don't think I could fix people and that's why I wanted to reach out to intervention I really don't know how I feel right now like I'm excited to go and hope for the best but I don't know I just hope she says yes to going away and getting home so I guess we'll just have to wait and see Tina is missing somewhere in Kensington and I know that she moves around a lot so I'm gonna hire a private investigator to find her Kensington is the jungle there's a lot of guns violence and there's a lot of drugs I can't believe my friend is out there right now I was very young and I used to tell Tina I'm moving to Hollywood I'm going to be famous and she was like well I'm gonna have babies ultimately she wanted to be a mom I used to tell Tina like teen let's go let's get out of here all my friends were on drugs Tina was not on drugs at the time growing up I was surrounded by heroin and crack not from my mother but within my immediate family I just didn't want to do it I saw what it did to people I chose to look at that and take a different route I got on the train one day to New York probably 19 years old found a little apartment started dancing out there and I just I just knew that I didn't want to be here anymore then she had Latina her daughter I said okay you got your baby let's get the hell up out of here [Music] and she just wanted different Hey Kevin what's going on well I found Tina oh wow okay where is where is she so she's living at a house I confirmed that she is there with her boyfriends okay there's no way we can get to her there no definitely not I definitely don't want anybody to put themselves or her in jeopardy is it possible for me to get her like a place to stay or like maybe I can run something I think for safety reasons okay okay let me uh let me start working on that and then um I guess I'll call you back I'll keep you posted thank you so much Kevin so hopefully they find her and then bring her to the Airbnb so we can go through this intervention that's the most important thing [Music] it's been so long it was amazing seeing Lanaya she's grown so much she's so beautiful and smart oh my God hi babe hey hi guys Hi how are you how's everybody doing I'm Michael by the way nice to meet you Michael a little stressed a little nervous yeah bye um I don't think like anybody has gotten my mom to like you know stop doing what she's doing and I want her to be able to do it just because she wants to do it what is the biggest thing that you think is blocking her from another chance at life I think if she doesn't have the mindset that she wants to get clean that she wants to live a good life so she's not going to do that because she doesn't I can't that's why I said I didn't want to talk about this I know it hurts but the more information that I have the better I'm going to be able to help her before your mom got on drugs I was there and she loved you guys so much she puts you guys to bed every night she fed you guys it's not this is not your mom it's the drugs y'all gotta know that and that's why we're doing this having family members that are on drugs sometimes you really do become numb to it and you can still tell that Lanaya really loves her mom and she doesn't have a significant other during all of this her boyfriend is a good person he doesn't you know be on her or make her give him her money or anything them being young girls because he's not beating her because she's not giving him the money they think that that's a good person so this morning I was told that Tina's boyfriend he wants a pretty face to smoke crack with and that's the honest to God truth he feeds her drugs he makes a lot of money and he doesn't let her out of his sight well what I hear you saying right now is he's a sugar daddy yes and just because he's not beating her doesn't mean that you know he he doesn't need to be around her you know the the severity of this intervention is huge today is the intervention I'm excited my mom's finally went up here everything we have to say oh we know that everybody's here for her and we're here for you too thank you we have essentially a gift for you we want you to go to California too and go somewhere to deal with the trauma that you've been through I think it's a great idea and we can we can leave today we want to help you it's set up perfectly it has nothing to do with anything other than dealing with trauma and getting past all this stuff I would take a girl thank you yes yes I'm so happy now let's get your mom and your sister on the same page too right yeah that's what that's the goal [Music] thank you oh Tina are you gonna go with me to get my hair cut Tina hi baby oh my God how are you hug me babe it's okay like this it's okay I love you too that was just so much I want my sister back this is my friend Mike hi Mike how are you I'm really grateful that you're you're even willing to talk and like I mean I do I want to get clean you know what else she's also going this is my baby she's getting some help today too I love you too and all you have to do is say yes I have to leave like right now though yeah I want to call my boyfriend like what's going on and stuff we can do all of that in the car are you saying yes I mean of course I'm going to take the opportunity I don't I don't have insurance to do weird things hey you don't need to worry about any of that your whole life is changing today yeah I'm gonna go but I gotta go right now I know are you crying no Lanaya we're also offering you help for your trauma the stuff that's been going on with your family I nine listen to me right no we're not that's not what we're not babe she's scared because of everything that they've been through I need to pee really big I need you to be a big girl Lanaya no one's trying to separate you guys we would never do that I think you need to go get Tina I'm serious babe it's detrimental you know what that means can we get Amber upper medium she said yes that she wanted to go but she said she had to go pee and I knew what it was she started texting her boyfriend and I gotta be honest with you I literally hate his guts talk to me how do we make this go like I don't know I just I don't like the way things went down I just don't like it I'm a grown-ass woman I make my own decisions what the if my my daughter dies while I'm out there I did it with my mother Amber I lost my mother and I was arguing your kids are gonna lose you there's really no reason for this Tina in the process of her coming outside and walking down the street she was in Communications with her boyfriend she wanted him to come get her where is the car I don't like the Elijah Tina where are you at where because I'm under the L I please I want to get the out of here Tina can we stop this I really hope that my mom takes this as something good and not anything that I did to harm her she's gonna die she's going to die bro her boyfriend showed up she got in the car and so did Lanai [Music] [Music] [Music] before I came here I was like always miserable angry and like now I am happy Hi how are you babe Old Forest is helping me figure myself out I'm learning how to accept people being there not pushing people away how's everything been it's been good like I've been in like a more positive mindset it feels good to have like people you could like rely on Latina's doing really well this girl when she got here extremely resistant and today she loves being supported by this community and she's putting in the work I'm happy to see you smiling she absolutely wanted a different life she knew that there was something wrong she knew that that's not where she was supposed to be and then she's out here she's happy she doesn't want to go back to Philly she doesn't want that life anymore it's a beautiful thing I'm happy I did it me too thank you for believing in me I love you so much [Music] [Music] [Music] foreign [Music] is wild very outspoken she had a very good job as a nurse and she's very witty she's a smart girl she is a caring helpful person goodbye she would go out of her way to help you if you needed help she would save you now she can't do that you can't save herself my name is Caitlin I'm 27 years old I'm addicted to crack cocaine Just Smokes it every night and every day I don't know how she makes money to pay for her drugs she's been arrested a couple of times for shoplifting I know she's been affiliated with people that are drug dealers Caitlyn's lost her health her friends her life basically to crack the day that we adopted Caitlyn was the most exhilarating day of my life there was so much joy and so much love we were ecstatic it was great finally she's now ours her parents were getting divorced and that was really hard for her to deal with Caitlyn was only 14. she was normally very very clingy but once her dad and I split up I felt her pulling away she wouldn't even let me hug her we wanted to share the custody we both wanted her in our lives that didn't bother me I was like we didn't have two different houses or two different rooms it was going to be two weeks on two weeks off well that went on for about four months and it was she just couldn't take it she felt like she was being pulled in so many different directions when we divorced my goal was to try to stay in the family home as long as I can so that Caitlyn has familiar surroundings and she can progress through high school which are critical years she was caught in the middle so she told him that she wanted to live with me two years after the divorce when I decided to sell the house and went to live with my wife now I think that was a little bit of a blow for her I remember she was in grade 11. I don't know how but uh we ran into her birth mother of all people at a grocery store we both stopped dead in our tracks Caitlyn had seen photo albums because her birth mother had provided pictures so she would know what her birth parents looked like her birth grandparents looked like I knew right away because we look like twins I'm like that's my biological mother you know like going out for like coffee she's pretty she's young and like she's eerily very similar to me it's very like athletic and like just bubbly and it was trippy that's a big effect of me and and I'm wondering all the time like what if I would have been raised by my birth mom what if what if what if was obviously a huge deal after they met she became very close to her biological mom and I know that she really loves her it's like she's cool and I know my unbiological mom that's raised me my whole life was like jealous because I go in and hang out with her there was a bit of an awkwardness between the two moms Caitlyn we used to strive for her biological Mom's attention think somewhere down deep that there's the idea that you know she wasn't wanted I mean who who wouldn't feel a little bit of something for that meeting my birth mom was something that we just didn't cope with well at all so I missed the first semester grade 11. I did like online schooling I graduated on time had all my credits and stuff once she started nursing it was kind of just all right guys like we don't need to go out as often anymore like let's stay in a little bit she became like the Debbie Downer well I got my apartment had my own car I was not using drugs while I was in nursing school and I graduated nursing she did extremely well she got a job where she wanted oh I was so excited for her I loved nursing engaging with a patient I applied for all the openings with our pins and then I got where I wanted to go which was a psychiatric hospital my life was set she had everything going for her she was living life once she got the job that's when she started to party again [Music] when we were like early 20s I did notice that she would get intoxicated and do some things that she would regret the next day but I never thought that that would have led to anything friends were a really big part of her life and she was hanging out particularly with one friend he wasn't in the best place but she loved him he was like part of our whole group of friends his mother and father were not married and you know Caitlyn was adopted and a little bit of a kindred spirit almost you know I don't know how long he'd been using but it was clear he was using he was an addict cocaine addict she would go over to his house and he was with him they just were hanging out one night and decided hey let's go for a drive and then next thing you know she was smoking crack we're at someone else's house they asked me if I wanted to try it I said sure I was drunk I loved it more than he did as soon as she started smoking crack she was fully addicted in what felt like a blink of an eye it spiraled out of control guys would feed me Crack me my friend were doing it and within months I met crackhead to the extreme and all of a sudden my best friend died I thought I'd always have him we'd call each other brother and sister like he was like just like no one will replace him and like thinking that death I just didn't cope with well at all her best friend who she spent every day with overdosed and died she has never been the same since [Music] my biggest regret is that we didn't talk that night I could have somehow saved his life I literally like spend my entire life and have the hole in the ground just living she's still upset I don't think she has ever dealt with the loss of her friend she keeps pushing that feeling Away by using she just wants to get high again [Music] she's been charged with stealing liquor from the liquor store she got criminally charged she's been to jail five assaults all the deadly weapon I have like 17 charges hey this is where's the flashlight man look at my socks look at my legs this is gross man look at that yeah man you literally want to get like when Caitlyn gets to that state people can't be around her she's dangerous I'm literally going to break the camera like give me the camera give me give me I think her mom is one of the reasons Caitlin is still very engulfed in this drug life drops anything to go and help Caitlyn me and I had a good relationship but like me and my dad don't talk anymore it's just a horrible thing my dad's disappointed in me [Music] foreign good morning family friends on hi Caitlin come on in literally absolutely 100 not doing this come on no I'm staying with them no your family's done a lot of work to get here today I'm sitting here with you how about staying here come on back in no no no Caitlin give them a chance to talk to you please give please can you just hear us out please Caitlyn [Music] just listen to us and then if you want to leave you can leave but at least hear what we have to say Caitlyn you don't want to miss this oh my God come here please Katie I love you so much please you don't do this anymore Katie please no just get a minute of Common Sense Katie okay we this is serious this is serious stuff show we're all here [Music] stop crying please Caitlyn do a little bit one one more step at a time one step at a time what's Caitlin come on stop talking to me like you know me I don't know you anymore I've already been suffocated I've been this asphyxiated by you guys this is strangulating me literally like all you got to do is get in the van all right Maureen's in there with her they love you they love you I no situation to help myself I know you're not in good shape don't worry about what you said to her you didn't mean it she didn't mean it we're gonna take you to detox it's a private medical detox for seven days and then you'll get on a plane and we're going to Vancouver Island I don't want to listen to anything you'll get their letters they're going with us let's go to the van you can do this okay bye Caitlyn bye kids I feel pretty good lots of work to be done I know that the number one thing in addiction is wanting it and like definitely I want it [Music] I feel awesome I feel like a new person and refreshed Cedars has been really good it's given me a new perspective on my life she looks so good it's different as night and day I thought that I may have lost her forever my mom I'm really looking forward to having a healthy relationship with her we love with you and my dad too I think he's proud of me and I'm proud of myself too [Music] foreign North Carolina I'm 34 years old Joshua's a very smart man very intelligent very articulate I knew what I wanted out of life very early on how many other kids have you ever seen that have bought a house have a family at 21. we were the happy family we know all we were missing was the white picket fence he was very very successful I bragged about him to everybody [Music] never hear it anymore I know I gotta get back it was a lot of fun he lost everything he had and it all kind of happened within a one or two year period it was about 32 years old when I moved back in with Mom love you be good my son Joshua is an alcoholic on top of just having an addiction that takes everything away from my life I have an additional layer it's kind of a weird thing it's like one of the people that eat you know sofa cushions or something like that Joshua is addicted to hand sanitizer Joshua will drink hand sanitizer nearly every single day he drinks anywhere from 12 to 28 ounces [Music] so all I do is add some water to it I have drank it completely 100 straight before but the consistency is I just I can't it's like loogy stuck in your mouth all the time it never crosses your mind to think that someone would use hand sanitizer to get high [Music] I just couldn't imagine drinking something so thick and gulping it down it actually makes me sick to my stomach after I've had one entire bottle I can actually drink the second bottle completely straight hand sanitizer is everywhere a standard size bottle is actually eight ounces this is like the most prominent ones that you see on like desks and stuff all over the place three and a half shots for a dollar 39 I don't know any bar in the world that would do that I'm a binge Drinker I've put myself in some alcohol poisonous type situations very quickly hand sanitizer is really dangerous because it's not designed for human consumption I have no idea what's happening to my brain and my body from all the inactive ingredients he's going to drink it all whatever's there it's a race to the bottom of the bottle it's destroying him inside and out outside and then he's been in the hospital at least a dozen times in the last three or four months his heart liver kidneys internal organs is being affected by this stuff he has seizures he's been on life support he's almost gone blind I live in fear that the phone's going to ring and he's going to be dead anytime if someone had told me years ago that Joshua would grow up to be addicted to hand sanitizer I would have called him crazy there's no way no way my son my successful son would drink a hand sanitizer and like it [Music] the day Joshua was born was a surprise he was born six weeks premature he was a little teeny itsy bitsy thing but he was a happy baby very easy going child but there was a lot of fighting going on between Joshua's father and I so I left and left the children with their father [Music] I raised him from the age of 2 to 15 with his father Gary he was a great well-mannered kid growing up through the years never got any Mischief any trouble in New York I grew up in a very small town our school was K through 12 and it had about 300 students total a lot of the people around there were very country and very into hunting but I like to play guitar and listen to music and I didn't quite fit in the summer in between 9th and 10th grade I was 15 years old I decided to move in with my mother Florida was super Dynamic and it was great and it gave me the opportunity to reinvent myself Joshua flourished he took music lessons he was an A B student he excelled at the courses he took when he went to college I didn't worry about him ever drinking or smoking or getting in with the wrong crowd because I knew the person he was he wanted to go to college get a good job get a house and then find the love of his life when I met Joshua he was working at a convenience store he was happy and funny and very knowledgeable and he had a gorgeous blue eyes I just melt every time I looked into him I told her that I was 23 years old because I thought that would be believable and she said she was 27. okay cool on our second date I decided to tell the truth and say hey just so you know I'm 19 years old and she said what you're a teenager and then she stormed off and then I called her later and said hey that's only four years what's the problem she said well I lied too I'm 33. so when we met we were only four years apart but by the time we were in love we were 14 years apart it didn't seem like I was dating a 19 year old a lot of people frowned upon it but I didn't care and he didn't care I fell in love right away and I fell in love with their kids right away I wasn't thrilled at all with the relationship in the beginning this older woman was taking my son and having him become a father right away at 19. I found a house that I wanted to buy I closed on it when I was 21 and we moved in he landed a great job and within a year he got promoted and was in charge of 14 different convenience stores I was very proud of him when Joshua was 27 he decided to have gastric bypass to help with the weight loss Joshua didn't lose weight as quickly as he wanted to he couldn't exercise because he was having back issues I ruptured one disc and then herniated another I was prescribed hydrocodone quite a bit of it like 100 pills a month for about eight months I got really used to it and started using in a manner that was not prescribed to me to make me feel happy after the back surgery he was feeling better so if they quit prescribing it and that's when he went to street drugs I was doing all of them from Hydro to oxycodone and Fentanyl like just the whole list of prescription alcohol was another thing that he started doing that with the two of the mixing he would pass out drunk swiping down he's not drinking but you could tell he's drunk my addiction became my number one priority and I was drunk all the time and just not a good husband and I was not a good father Joshua was in and out of rehabs but he couldn't stay clean the more I fought to get him better the more he fought to get away from me and just push me away and push everybody else away the big problem was that I was just losing everything left and right within a one year span my children left I got a divorce and I lost my job [Music] somebody in rehab told him how he could do the hand sanitizer mix it with a little juice so it doesn't taste so bad so you can get drunk I really don't know what would be worse than drinking hand sanitizer he had been in the hospital over a dozen times in just the last few months and I'm terrified that one of these times they're not going to be able to save him there is a point during the drinking phase that I know that I changed that I switched from just talking like I normally would through acting kind of angered or act out of paranoia without even considering whether it makes sense or not to be a happy now he's an angry drunk and he gets violence I don't have another drink give me dude where's the other bottle where the is my drink I only know the two bottles the square one and the one that you were damn how do you not know what I'm talking about you're the one that came in and asked me where I was you're the one who left in my mattress and says where is it and we picked it off you not know what I'm talking about well it wasn't a square bottle that I picked up on you I don't give up of course shape it was where is it hey honey I'm glad you're here I love you too dear Josh that I am here today because I love you foreign you have so much positive potential for great things that lie ahead for you I know for a fact you're struggling at this point in your life I am so afraid for you right now I am strongly urging you to make an immediate decision and commitment to turn your life around today don't give up I know you can do it this disease has changed you the fire in your eyes for life has diminished and the saddens me things like the family or the kids are not as important as getting your next drink and drugs have made you not care if you live or die and this scares me it's time to get help to heal yourself and the family we've been sick long enough I'm here to tell you that I love you more than you can possibly fathom but I don't like some of the choices you're currently making I'm very concerned and afraid that you are killing yourself I can't and won't sit idly by and be witness to my son's death often I've wondered about like what value and what worth I have anymore as a human being because I've lost so much and done so much damage and hurt so many people the fact that you guys are all here and you write these letters and you visit me shows that I guess I do have a value yes you do and I do have a worth so in an effort to help me prove to myself that I have it I will gladly accept anything when Joshua said yes and said he was going to go it was the the happiest moment I've had for a long long time we all love you and we know you can do something I am so relieved and so excited for the first time in a long time I feel like I can grieve a sigh of relief that he is on the way to recovery Anthony thank you nice to meet you I made sure that the treatment center knew to get rid of all the hand sanitizer so they have nothing here it's all alcohol free hand sanitizer is everywhere it's always in your face it's available it's extremely easy to get so maybe there's a slight concern that I have that I'll be tempted after I get out but I'm hoping that this is going to help me kind of absolve and learn how to abstain from that [Music] physically I feel fine and my memory is starting to return I am remembering things better I am quicker to solve problems what's been the hardest thing for you these first couple weeks after I'd been here like seven days there was an opportunity to take hand sanitizer from a outside meeting that we were at and I just took it without even thinking that relapse kind of made me realize that this is something beyond what I can control I'm so proud of you for realizing that and just digging in deeper [Music] hi sweetheart I'll see you hello my name's Jackie I am 45 years old and I live in Bellefonte Pennsylvania I have two beautiful boys Caleb and Blake who of course mean the world to me growing up well I really just wanted to make sure that me and Caleb knew that she cared and that she would always be there for us my daughter Jackie was a great nurse she loved her job she loved taking care of people she was good at it come here I love you now Jackie is as low as she can possibly go my mother is an alcoholic her alcohol addiction has overtaken my memory the only memory that I have is my mom sitting on the couch with a glass of wine in her hand she loves white wine she said it's just like heaven on Earth I drank two bottles like this yesterday and then a box which is almost like instant little keg in your fridge she's not a happy drunk she gets very mean you're treating me like a child alcohol now is a part of her physical makeup she has to have that alcohol in there in order to function this pile here is bills they've been laying there actually got this certified the other day I had to sign for it I did not open that up yet I don't pay for for some of the things that I should be paying for because I'm afraid that I'm going to run out of money for wine she's going to drink herself to death she's my baby girl and think that we could lose her because of alcohol it just it did it tears me apart [Music] Jackie was our first child and everyone was just crazy over Jackie was the the spunky outgoing one I think that we had a regular normal childhood growing up she was the cool sister really typical American family all my kids had good grades they were wonderful children and a lot of Joy with them I hate to say this because I love my dad but my dad truly was never there if he wasn't working he was you know at the bar I'm a Vietnam vet I was a door gunner in a helicopter in Vietnam I've seen death destruction and killing so try and forget that I I turned into drinking I remember worrying about him and thinking okay is this the second or third night my dad's not been here and I would lay there in bed and think oh God I hope he didn't wreck or I hope he's okay the family that I love to go and have dinner with just fell apart I met Jackie through a mutual friend and we started dating he was a high school wrestler and she was a cheerleader for the wrestling team and that was probably one of the happiest times I remember her he was a nice guy he was calm and laid back a good catch thought we were a good match we dated for so long I mean it was off and on seven years left her her co-workers loved her I was very proud we all were that was a great accomplishment Jackie's life did look wonderful she was a good mother her and Caleb both seemed happy I realized early on in my marriage that I didn't feel that I was as happy as I should be I knew he was going to be a good dad but I think at one point I almost became jealous of the kids like why don't you want to spend time with me like what's wrong with me Jackie told me she asked him for a divorce and Caleb wouldn't give it to her he said no I thought it'd be better if we just stay together and work it out got through it I was trapped so she just decided to stay and live with it and I think that's when she started drinking if she wasn't happy in life then that's what she did she would drink drinking made everything seem just a little bit better I believe when the drinking started everything just got worse progressively worse I can recall Jackie showing up at sporting events for our children intoxicated I would find bottles of wine stuffed in behind her sweaters in the closet Jackie was the epitome of a functioning alcoholic I started thinking it was okay to get in my vehicle and drive [Music] her explanation to me was I made her drink she was that unhappy so after being married 18 years we finally got our divorce after Jackie's divorce things did not get better Jackie has lost just about everything she ever had because of her addiction chose a lot of things over Blake and I one being alcohol she chose that over us and I feel kind of betrayed in a way you're gonna be at my graduation this week yeah what time do you guys have to be there Saturday 10 30. oh you have to be there I figured you'd have to be there a little earlier make it to my graduation but I don't believe her she's usually drunk when she wakes up but every day I wish I could have her back to where she way she used to be it's terrible sucks as she's picking a glass of wine over me This concerns me what it's doing to your body it's fine Marie I'm just looking out for you I'm I'm not right now you're not wow I am how are you going to be tomorrow morning I'm gonna be fine [Music] she's drunk and if she continues drinking I won't allow her to go to graduation because she can't go and embarrass her son in front of his whole entire class and family counting on you we are staying here tonight I know so what's gonna go wrong then her friend was texting her she used to date him when we were teenagers and before I knew it they were in the bedroom and I was out here and I had to sit and listen to it Jackie and he's still here and she's still sleepy and I'm not sure if I'll be able to get her up and ready to go to graduation or not hey hey Jackie needs to get up [Music] you need to start getting ready what timeline ad coming 9 45. today is her son's graduation from high school and if I wasn't here with her this morning she would still be in that bed sleeping and not even worrying at all about making it to her son's graduation I'm anxious about seeing my ex-husband who I despise I just want to get drunk and not go to this but I can't well I hope it goes well my relationship with Jackie today is probably the best it's ever been because at this point she needs me and I want to help her you ready [Applause] watching him graduate overwhelming well it seemed like yesterday that he was just a baby and he was hanging off my leg so when I look back I see a lot of Wasted Years I love you babe I haven't been what a mom's supposed to be because of my drinking contact Ed with the kids tonight and we all smiled and we all looked happy and was it Caleb actually thanked me for coming to his graduation even though that's something that a mom should normally do foreign for me to get there and I got there but I'm so glad I could just leave [Applause] dear Mom my sole purpose for being here is to help you get better it's been a long time since you've been happy your addiction has been keeping you from succeeding and making us happy I still remember all the good left in you that's made an impact on everyone in this room I want this Addiction in for all the bad memories to go away even though I love you more than life I can't stand being around you and watching you destroy your liver and slowly killing yourself I miss you I miss you so much the family misses you and your beautiful sons miss you so much I know you love us as much as we love you now it's time for you to show that love mom you need to do this I need to go through with this we all love and care about you we want you to get help attacking will you go to treatment with me today like right now today we've got everything taken care of don't worry about a thing and you're gonna go away and get well for yourself and for your family this could very well be your okay you're going to California it's a long flight and yeah we're going to take care of you you're going to be traveling with a nurse and we got your back baby okay trust me we got your bag yes [Music] hi welcome to Iris I'm Dr Elena nice to meet you uh come on seeing my mom today was probably the greatest feeling I have for the past few months I am feeling very good about the future for the first time in a long time it's good then I want to be that person you know I don't want to go back to what I was [Music] my name is Sam I'm 30 years old and I live in Indianapolis Indiana my name is Brad I am 28 years old I am married to the most beautiful woman in the world and my best friend Samantha so I remember that's the actual picture right after we got our little tattoo done painful but it was worth it Brad and Samantha seem like the happiest couple in the world they're kind of there for each other no matter what they've been married almost two years now I promise I'll never let you go and don't wipe her because she's the baddest chick wife because she's the realest yeah that's true I made that up after the first time we went to jail together they say they're soul mates to each other but they are the modern day Bonnie and Clyde I'm in handcuffs I'm going to jail and the cop tells you all you have to do is just say that you knew that he had the stuff in the car and we're gonna let you go home tonight and what'd you do my brother Brad and my best friends can't my brother Brad and my best friend Samantha are addicted to heroin Samantha has hepatitis C if Brad continues down the path that he's going down if Samantha continues down the path that she's going down they're both going to die our family and Brad's family have known each other for a long time Samantha and I met in elementary school and we played softball together we were good friends I coached Samantha in softball so Brad and Samantha have known each other for a very long time Samantha and Colleen were friends she would come over a lot and that's when I first seen Samantha and met her and you know knew that I I liked her Brad was a little cutie always had a major crush on him Colleen would get so upset all her friends wanted to be with Brad and she hated it so much everyone could tell how much we liked each other and cared it was just we both were just too chicken to say anything to one another when I was 13 I started to get migraines that were excruciating it puts me in a hospital after about the third or fourth time being in the hospital my mom took me to our family doctor she prescribed me pain pills for my migraines it made me feel a thousand times better and when I would run out me and my other friend would use her parents pain pills I started getting suspicious of Samantha of using her pain medicine in high school I only abuse them probably for a couple years and then I stopped because my parents had said something to me they noticed they noticed something was wrong and I don't know when they said something to me it kind of woke me up it made me bounce out of it I stopped taking the pain pills stopped going to my doctor to get pain pills the heartbreaking their eyes I didn't want that anymore [Music] things were going great for Samantha when Samantha and her boyfriend at the time found out they were gonna have a baby boy we were all extremely excited I was around 21 when I found out I was pregnant after I had my son my doctor prescribed pain pills after having a c-section I didn't think twice about it the pressure of being a new mom and then working full-time made me feel like I wasn't doing enough so I started to actually take the pain pills more because it boosted my energy Because by the time I got home I was exhausted for the day like I could barely get up off the couch just to give my son a bath it became apparent that Samantha I had a problem odd things started happening I liked Samantha not showing up for work or calling in late Samantha worked at a dental lab the owner of the dental lab told my wife that Samantha's productivity had dropped off she had let her go I didn't even really notice that everyone else noticed um that something was wrong with me and I had actually started to run out of my pain pills so I would buy them all them off thinking I'm fine I don't have a problem I'm fine Sam and her boyfriend accused each other of cheating and they had problems in their relationship around 28 me and my ex's relationship started to go pretty bad despite Sam's boyfriend knowing that she had a problem with pills he wanted to keep the family together he wanted to work things out he wanted to make it work he wanted her to get help but it didn't it didn't work out that way by the time Sam was 28 she lost everything she signed over rights to her son she lost her career Samantha just left our home her boyfriend her son and just left [Music] Brad was following his dad's footsteps Brad was born into welding and heating and air they were paying for his school he was making 4.0 he liked it a lot so when I was about 20 years old my ex and I got married I was extremely happy to find out that she was pregnant and my beautiful daughter came I thought that I was on top of the world that everything was going forward for us and going in the direction that we wanted to be I was so proud of him like he got this good job going like you're really gonna go somewhere I felt like I was on top of the world but I felt all of the pressure of what comes with being on top of the world you know eventually that led to my downfall and crashed Brad had a really bad accident at work he had messed his back up and was prescribed pain medication I was prescribed a very powerful opiate and was told to take these pills each day to help with my pain and so I did the pressures of trying to be a dad going to school and be a husband was overwhelming for him I quickly found out that these pills made me feel Invincible I started snorting them and then I learned how to inject it things started to get I was introduced to heroin I knew from that point forward that this was something that I was hooked on while I was in Florida and I was going through my first year of sobriety I started to work as a tech had a treatment center and I quickly realized that this was something that I wanted to do I went back to school I was able to stay clean and sober for a year after that until I moved back home after he came back to Indianapolis and tried to redo his relationship and got work he started sliding down the slippery slope as we say I don't know if it was his depression or his uh he felt like he couldn't uh man up to his responsibilities whatever it was took him down deeper than I've seen him my ex-wife and I decided to separate a lot of it was because of our drug usage soon after that he reconnected with Samantha it was like love at first sight all over again he I knew immediately that he was my soul mate before we even started dating he was fresh out of rehab and I told him I said Bob no you know I don't feel comfortable with you guys dating I don't feel like it's right we were both clean and sober for the first three or four months so when Samantha and I first got together we were both on opioid blockers that prevented us from doing opiates Samantha had never used heroin before but she was suffering the withdrawal symptoms and side effects from the opioid blocker that she was trying to get off of she became very sick and Ill with the withdrawal symptoms from that I just asked him Monday if he would shoot me up with it and uh yeah he did and he did it too and that's when he relapsed I was too scared to lose her and I was too scared to lose our relationship and our love so I gave in and let it happen when I found out my brother gave my best friend her first shot of heroin I was sick to my stomach after me and Brad were together for about five months uh we were laying in bed and we had always talked about getting married back and forth but it was almost like we both were either too scared to ask the other person I just said let's just get married the next day we went down to the courthouse it was just it was amazing we didn't have rings so we got Ring Pops which was the coolest thing ever I learned of Sam and Brad's marriage through social media it was quite surprising I thought it was a joke I got a hold of my sister she finally confirmed it was a it was a real thing this whole marriage thing is done with a champ Brad and Samantha are completely out of control What's it gonna be you guys have already lost everything you guys have already been to jail I don't know how many times now overdoses have happened What's it gonna take one of you dying [Music] what's going on Brad you all right what you're right why wouldn't I be I'm just asking just making sure man Brad and Samantha live with my father I don't like the fact that they live with my father I feel like he's being used about two or three minutes don't burn my garlic bread you just have some issues here Brad's parents to enable him they give him money buy food gas cigarettes hey make sure he has it all you want to go outside and have a cigarette with me before you go because I want to talk with you so [Music] Brad is and was my best friend and we've always been there for each other you know what I haven't had anyone you know I can't talk to Mom or Dad yeah did I tell you like exactly what's going on no I heard a little bit about what's going on so I have cancer at first I didn't really tell Brad or my family of really what was going on because I just figured they have enough stress going on in their life so [Applause] I eventually end up telling them and to me you know I really wanted my brother's support so what they're gonna do is that they're gonna go in try to take all the cancer cells out to prevent it spreading I didn't tell Mom all this or dad I didn't just bits and pieces [Music] scared about it everything will be all right I know it will be and I'm sorry that I'm not there as much as you need me to be there she misses her brother they used to be really close I just don't feel like I have my best friend anymore you talk salmon all today yeah she texts me wanting me to meet her at the gas station again to buy her cigarettes give her any money no I don't give her money I haven't heard from her for a long time she don't even call me and ask no more I know I know it bothers you was Brad Witter when she when you met her yeah he gets out all Smiley looking all nice and dressed up like nothing's wrong I have never met Brad I don't want to meet Brad I wish he'd never met my daughter and I wish my daughter had never met him she even asked about baby Jay no and that's the thing she never asked about it so Colin asked about money she never come out and say how's baby Jay doing I know that your family has one kind of strategy and how to deal with this and you guys have a different strategy and nobody's strategy is working yeah yeah and it's because you're trying to be the treatment center your job is family do they have cell phones yes yes they do okay I won't pay for it okay does he have a cell phone yeah they have cell phones and of course it gets it gets replenished one way or another and what are those one ways or others that's me man so do you think that they should call people to buy dope no if you don't agree with something don't help it happen it's also a risk what's the risk say sam ODS how they're going to call somebody there's a fine line I used to think that too but you know what when I was younger we didn't have a lot of money we never had a phone and that was before cell phones and things did happen I would run into a next door neighbor or I would run to the nearest house that had a phone but do you think with them being high or having dope on them that they're going to run to and they're not going to go there and if they're in a bad neighborhood nobody's going to answer them nobody answered the door that is not reality if they weren't able to make phone calls to you if they're in trouble because they didn't have a phone that means they wouldn't be able to make phone calls to their dealer to buy the dope that got them in trouble in the first place I get your point okay from tomorrow on that is not an option that I will do again Brad is complaining about being in pain again it definitely scares me if I think that he's done too much just because I've seen him overdose and it was the scariest thing in my life foreign [Music] any concerns or questions are you ready show one cell I hope she does [Music] you guys in there we can tell when she's using because she's just Mia yeah we've been waiting on Samantha for about two and a half hours and it's just making me really nervous that she's not showing up we can't wait for Sam any longer we need to switch gears find salmon Brad and do their interventions together I feel like if if that says no she knows if they're together or apart they're they're both going to be thinking about what the other one's saying anyways producers have let me know that Sam and Brad are back at David's house so we're headed over there right now okay I know where we're going what do you feel like right now the weekend ah breath it's okay um yeah all right guys I don't know I think we should go to the hospital all right we're gonna go right now huh we're going come on sit up now baby yep I'm okay yes baby I don't know where she has to do this to everybody well this is Do or Die there's Brad in they're leaving oh they're trying to leave don't let them leave let me out let me out stop right here block their ass not leaving no you're not no stuff right now dude are you kidding here dude he's damn you're about to pass out in the house we're taking him to the hospital not under the influence you're not you're not driving I'm not under the end yes you are thank you very much I gotta go to the hospital no guess no guess what hey yeah [Music] let me do this wow get out I thought she was leaving it's okay it's okay this is my phone this is not your fault do the family thing hey because they care care stop what the have they done or gonna do stop it we're not going doing this then well guess what guess what nothing I want them out okay you guys roll out get away from me man dude you're gonna make me ask you like dude I want both of us to get home no I'm asking you do you want to get help Bradley do you want to get help or not I'm not going I'm not going unless we can go to a treatment center together and that's my decision sorry Samantha are you going to accept treatment because you know if you get treatment and you get good then you know maybe you can convince this man that you're married to to get treatment because there's another intervention coming anyway at some point death has the final say we don't want that one to happen do you want that one to happen all right I'm proud of you guys thank you oh my God my hopes for treatment is to stay clean and sober for myself my son my family my husband I know I need this and I know I do great at this so I'm excited I initially said no because I didn't want to be separated from Samantha it's going to be very hard but we did realize that it was best for both of us to have a little bit of space so we can work on ourselves individually welcome to New method Wellness I'm glad you're here [Music] oh my God look at you dude oh my god oh it's good to see you man this finally gives us an opportunity for us to both be completely clean and sober my hopes for the future are to continue to stay clean and sober continue working my program to be reunited back with Samantha and for us to be a family again foreign I love you very much I love you so glad you came [Music] [Music] foreign and I'm 21 and I'm homeless in Paris what's up with you where'd you get these from where are you from my younger boy John John smart very smart basically you could do anything he wanted to if you just put his mind to it you know who is that all right brother Tommy is that him yeah is that your brother my name is Thomas I'm 23 and I'm homeless in Paterson New Jersey Thomas was this was the sweetest little boy just loving loved his family took care of his little brother took care of me was always just a caretaker my kids saw their future in the family business the boys were so proud of the family business I mean since they were toddlers started it with a chainsaw and a station wagon and he built one hell of a company nothing was better than the feeling like waking up in the morning going to work me my grandfather my dad it was definitely a cool feeling unfortunately drugs came into the situation my younger sons are both addicted to heroin same thing as every night hospitals get high you know I make money by panhandling and robbing and stealing and selling drugs on the day Thomas was born when I first saw him and held him it was just like can't even describe the feeling it's my boy I love my son when I found out I was pregnant with Thomas I was elated I was happy and when I found out I was pregnant with John John I was shocked I had an infant and here was another one but definitely definitely happy my son's growing up were almost like twins Linda spot the baby right from the hospital to my house Thomas and Johnny were staying there already our thought was to save money and you know start a family and maybe save for our house I was happy you know I had a beautiful wife and two beautiful boys when we were little kids you know my relationship with my brother when we were growing up was it was solid you know it was just like everything we did you know was together my childhood good and bad my parents they were always addicts and drinking getting high Thomas was probably six or seven when he caught me um using Cracker he saw the pipe in my mouth but I turned around and he was there and he saw me and I just felt like the Biggest Loser piece of crap I felt horrible Belinda was a real Loose Cannon man you know a lot of fun to be around but nothing but trouble we grew up with you know like you know just cracked pipes you'd find and there was always beer cans everywhere and I could walk through and I could smell and when I was little I always thought it was burning rubber but it turns out now that I know what the spell is now it's crack back then I just drank a lot and the crackhead smoke crack I was a crackhead you know my dad used to uh beat on her my mom would be on him you know there was a lot of miles you know it was always there was a lot of violence a lot of violence there was holes in all the walls thankfully we had my grandparents and my grandparents pretty much raised me and my brother I mean it was it was a period in time when when John and Linda would go out every night I mean I had the boys constantly me and Johnny would go out I guess we did take advantage of the fact that we did all live together and someone was always home the grandparents were usually home so we could slip out and do our thing but I knew they were safe you know and they were with my family so I would come and go like I in my mind I really wasn't abandoning them you know and now that I I should have been there my grandmother she would make sure as soon as I came home from school I did my homework and try to get me to regain the structure of a normal kid you know and like try to get me push me to join Sports I love my grandparents they're everything's me do you think about your grandparents a lot [Music] I love the men when I was 16 my mom my dad separated my mom kind of disappeared for a while but I didn't hear from her I didn't know what was up I was heartbroken leaving my kids there but I also knew the fighting it was abusive it was unhealthy I protected the boys and kept them with me they were incredibly resilient kids Tom and John just went on living their lives they had their friends they went to school they didn't get in trouble I like school but um but no I didn't graduate they absolutely love doing every aspect of tree work that it was supposed to be their future that was going to be their careers and once I retired it kind of fell apart you know I was 18 just going on 19 when my grandfather retired from the tree service um he gave me my father the company I left him with a bucket truck a big commercial chipper chainsaws you know enough to keep them going this time I thought he would have trained out of the life and it it never happened and the business basically went under I feel like the family business was my future my life was already in a spiral almost a definitely in a few months time Thomas was also on heroin John was 17 and Tom was 19 when they began living on the street Tom didn't want to leave his brother there and then John went in to get them both out and then they all got caught in the web now my son John my grandson's Thomas and John John are addicted to heroin it's like Russian Roulette if they don't stop one of them or all of them were going to die I just hope I lived long enough to see him get straight and I'm running out of time hold up that's not too bad though it's cold in here bro right now where I'm living it's a abandoned house with a garage next to it to me my father if my soon-to-be wife Christina Tommy he's probably like the best thing that's happened to me in a long time I'm like so happy with him so glad I met him we live inside the garage because it's smaller easier to keep somewhat warm Tommy's relationship with his dad is putting much more like a friend relationship he's on the streets with us he gets high with us we're family and we won't never leave each other you're thick and thin you know we're gonna be together [Music] well I'm living an abandoned house and it's all right but to the normal human being they say it's very uh you know like unhealthy my girlfriend's Johnny I've been with her for about probably four months now she's out there hustling right now too well we just freaking came back we're trying to get Molly but we wound up wandering into Christmas [Music] foreign [Music] Bus Magic School Bus in the city of Patterson where all the junkies come to play a getaway spot where people can hide long enough to just get into a corner and shove a needle on their own or neck he took a acpr certified as well no no our relationships are strong you know he always on my back I always had his tell me this is the part where I bounce it back up on the train tracks where I started at John has overdosed probably four or five times that I know of we're gonna chill for a minute enjoy this wanna be high Thomas has also overdosed at least four or five times that is my worst nightmare finding out that one of my sons has died living on the street so tell me what you all think is the causes what we call causes and conditions of Tom and John's addiction do you have to start with Johnny their father and mother they were years ago doing crack and Tom and John stay with us when John and Linda would be in and out doing their thing so mother and father had active addictions do you guys drink I had a drinking problem and I walked away from it I should tell you oh yeah yeah I could sit down and drink 20 years I drink a whole fit by myself we party but I mean I was in the home the kids were always safe my parents were not the typical parents my mom I feel my mom is an alcoholic she might have been home more but she was always drinking and so John did he pick up drinking or sort of the cause of tree work John's back up bad he had several back surgeries pain pills and the next thing you know he's a crack when I retired everything fell apart everything fell apart for the boy can't smoke crack and take pills and all that kind of expect to keep a business well no he was fine working on crack that was that was no problem he was up and on the job with him every day he had no problems well what I know about people who smoke crack and do that right well no it wasn't the crack it was the heroine is it does he still have the business and not only if that's the problem so what eventually happens we gave him all the tree work equipment and next thing you know the chip was stolen right it's thousands of dollars worth of chainsaws yeah just gone and then you know one thing after another broke your heart if you see your business go down like that oh yes John John I worry about John John on the streets because he's a little more free John I don't think he pays attention to what's going on around him they're in a very bad area John John see this is when I start getting crazy [Music] all right all right I'm going to Godwin [Music] I'm good stop stick to my stomach now at 4 25th okay foreign my relationship with my mother right now is a good relationship we're close we talk definitely better than what it was so how's John John been I haven't seen him in days I'm looking all over for him he saw him recently yes sir yesterday okay yep all right good so there's some food oh my God it smells so good when Linda stops by it's very nice I don't know it's always nice to get food okay very cool nice not bad at all there's garbage on the floor there's a rug hanging for the door is I guess for warmth it breaks my heart just to see them living that way all right Johnny and Linda we're in a separate couple they really were but they were this kind of extreme couple toxic yeah and when crack came around the two of them were just together and like you know running boots or locking themselves in the bedroom right you know for days why would your parents allow that Johnny was allowed to do whatever he wanted interesting and he was the climber for my father's company Johnny wasn't working now they couldn't do a job or I'm not working tomorrow right everybody holding everybody house when the boys were living there then they'd use them right well I'm gonna take the boys right Johnny and Linda would use the kids as puns everybody in the family loved the boys and worried about the boys so they would threaten to take the boys if they wanted money they loved the boys but they definitely used them to get what they wanted Johnny could do no wrong we were extremely tight grown up and now from right here he hates me I got custody of Tom and John when they were in second and third grade boys were with me for the school year my husband and I and my kids Sean and Amanda they did well in school they were very happy but at the end of the school year Johnny and my father Walt picked the boys up because Charlie and Linda were granted custody back soon after Johnny and Linda started going back to the same old ways and when's the last time you saw Tom and John John a couple years I'm glad you're being a part of this but you got to watch yourself too you know because it's very easy to slip back it's a constant thing you know my son Sean is a heroin addict also he started struggling about six and a half years ago I injured myself skateboarding I got involved with pain pills specifically oxycodone 30 milligram prescribed from a doctor several months in I was cut from pain pills and began finding them on the street December 22nd will be a year since the last time I've done heroin I'm always worried about Sean relapsing because it's just like a broken record you know like every time like Sean come home clean then he would just start getting like ANSI he'd be on drugs he'd be out again then he'd be in jail come out say he like he wants a better life and it'll just keep going over and over again I mean Johnny has been dealing with stuff for years but it was kind of shocking when no when you started seeing Johnny over the years the first time I used heroin I asked my uncle John if he could get pain pills in Patterson he was unsure so we took a ride to Patterson and all we could find was heroin me my friend and my uncle bought heroin and that's when I began to sniff I don't blame my brother for my son's addiction to heroin it was John's choice I know my brother loves my son and Johnny if he was clean he would never do that but the addict is a whole nother person I just hope they take advantage of this because Patterson is just you know it's bad it's bad they're gonna die exactly it doesn't happen you're the matriarch of this family your attitude has to change about enabling because I want them to have some kind of a life I think that's why she gives them so much she really does just want the best them having the best and the enabling that has gone on through the years is not working what's going on are you all right yeah I just want to smoke a cigarette I understand I'll make sure she's quick all right thank you are we done I think so I don't know let's stop asking questions I want to get out of here I know I I see it in your face what makes you got your glitter I know hey I haven't in a long time we don't know whether we're going to end up doing Johnny first or the next day or the other way around so let's just be open-minded about that thank you Donna take it easy thank you thank you I still feel concerned that somebody in this gang could sabotage all this hey everybody how's everybody doing all right good news not only are we dealing with Johnny John John and Tom within the family we also have an issue with another family member that needs some help that's here right now Linda has succumbed to her disease again and I just you know wanted you to have the opportunity to say anything you needed to say just I know well you guys don't know but when my doctor took me up to post I started heroin I just want to be a good role models I want to let you know that there's an opportunity for you as well to go to treatment today of course but you're going to have to go today and I suggest that you all have no contact after today okay and then you focus on yourself it's your journey your addiction has changed you so much physically and mentally I fear what could happen to you every day it has thrown a happy fun person and is Left Behind an angry paranoid person that doesn't have to be your life it's not you it's what the drugs have done to you loves you love you what's being offered to you is to go to treatment and to go today what about my boys we're going to do their intervention next you can't save the boys you know but what we're giving you is will link to life and we also give them a link to life so your focus can't be what's going on with them they're now adults they have to go take their own Journey will you go yeah yeah he's ready I'm glad he's not an increase lashing out at everybody because I kind of thought that's what was going to happen I got good news for everybody it looks like we found both the boys so it looks like before you leave that you'll be able to be able to say it Linda Dear John John as a baby I remember cuddly and cozy you were to hold you would just just cling to my head for hours and I know I haven't always been there for you as a mom addictions has ravaged my life and now it's taken off toll on you please take this gift thank you honey I love you so much I'm going too holy hey what's up welcome my Gramps he looks good too yeah dear Thomas my number one son I need you to know how deeply sorry and regretful I am for not always being there either physically or emotionally Thomas I know you suffered for that you should have torn a huge gaping hole in our family life however today is an opportunity for you to rise above it all I get the help you need Tom please accept this gift I found for you please [Music] I love you we're giving you the opportunity if you say yes to go to treatment today will you go yeah yes all right great I love you and along with you your brother is going to go John John your dad is also going to go and your mom is going to go as well because she knows that she needs to get help and gets over too and you know what Christina is going to also get some help too I could see that was stressing you there for a minute man hey bring it in man come here hey man we did it I am very hopeful that success for John for Linda for Tom and John John I just love them and want them to have the lives they deserve Sean what happened to Sean tonight is you know he succumbed to the family disease hold up buddy and when Johnny asked him to come in the bathroom to help him shoot up I think Johnny gave Sean a bag a dope and a rig so Sean got high before the intervention I feel a lot better physically mentally feel a lot better about myself I hopes for going back to New Jersey getting the business started again working with my father heroin definitely weighed me down and kept me from doing things I wanted to achieve in life now not having that addiction and not waking up sick every morning such a relief like I feel now I feel free I stayed in the treatment center for 26 days before you know I am made I pretty much left treatment because of you know my girlfriend Jody being so far away wind up taking a bus all the way back to New Jersey when I got back to New Jersey you know I started using again but I didn't give a poke you know now I have somewhere to live you know I'm looking forward into getting a job I have a place for me and my girlfriend Jody I'm in the methadone clinic and I'm hoping just to move on from there right now I have 82 days sober and I feel incredible my whole life has changed in such a short period of time right now I'm an outpatient program I'm just taking it very slow I work here now they got me with my chainsaws in the woods you know in my little happy place being I am clean and sober today I do have a chance to rebuild my company and get my kids back on track so far everything is just going great my relationship with Tom now that we're sober and clean we have such a strong bond unexplainable but when I heard John left treatment broke my heart I almost went down the wrong path again when I heard that you know but I know I have to put my recovery first because if I'm not sober and clean and upside my mind uh I surely can't help him [Music] I feel better than many years my up in the morning I'm not sick anymore um I'm able to work out um to going hiking in Utah it's been beautiful doing a lot of things I haven't done I mean I just feel like or human again to be honest I mean I don't even know how to thank anybody you know I mean if I had a million dollars it wouldn't be enough I just am so grateful um the peace I feel Within Myself is amazing so yeah I'm forever grateful you have no idea [Music] [Music] foreign I'm from Helena Montana and I'm 22 years old here I'll be in the fort Cheyenne is very energetic humorous loving individual [Music] Cheyenne's good at everything she can draw she can play the piano she used to be my daughter's role model these are my bikini competition suits I was a bodybuilder my Fashions were doing bikini competitions and working out anything that had to do with the fit lifestyle I wanted to do with you said you could have did anything she wanted to with the drive that she had these suits mean a lot to me no she's lost the life that she should have I inject methamphetamines she's stolen money from me she's stolen money from her family I've heard around town that she's selling herself I gotta go treasure hunting in shed she's at least lost 40 to 50 pounds her face is sinking in her eyes are getting dark it's a horrible transformation my body's starting to shut down I already have liver failure I'm pretty much killing myself [Music] I am the baby of the family and family to me is my entire world her father did not make any effort to be in her life my dad broke my heart before any boy ever could but my mom was always there to be my mom and dad when Cheyenne was seven eight years old she was in a dance company she was one of the younger ones but yet she was one of the leaders of the group most of my childhood memories have to do with my sister at Shandy we were two peas in a pod we are two of the same person her sister was shot and killed by a person that was actually high on meth we stayed for three days in the hospital with her and had her own life support So Cheyenne had to witness all that we were told she'd never wake up our family decided to take her off life support because that's no life to live everybody was around the bed when Shanny took her last breath when they tried to take her body I took off towards the ambulance screaming that I wanted my sister back foreign Cheyenne didn't really process it like the rest of us at the time I think Cheyenne actually kind of shut down about a year after Shandy's death Cheyenne started having a lot of body pains and it was severe pain in her back and hips Ankylosing Spondylitis is a form of rheumatoid arthritis my bones are fusing together it's severely painful it has to be controlled with chemo drugs there is times where Cheyenne would wake up and she would start limping one day I have watched her where she can't even walk I will end up in a wheelchair not be able to walk one day it was a death sentence to her I'm scared of the entire disease of the medicine of everything she was very depressed about it and Cheyenne started getting into a lot of trouble I was your typical Hellion Cheyenne was in fights constantly in middle school I would have the police at my house all the time she would be in court she was on probation I thought it was a typical teenager thing when all along it was the death of her sister that was finally starting to come out and her disease she just kind of did a downroad spiral for a little while and then she met Heath [Music] I met Heath when I was 13 years old through some mutual friends and I fell head over heels for him Heath was doing bodybuilding for a while and Cheyenne really liked the fact that it was a healthy thing for her to do that's when her life turned around with the bodybuilding I started getting her into the gym with me and then it became something that we did together every night him and her spent all the time at the gym and always on diets they seemed to help Cheyenne's medical condition it helped her move around more and be more active she was doing amazing she looked fantastic and she looked healthy and she looked happy he had my back and I had his eventually Cheyenne asked Heath to marry her [Music] the love that we had for each other we we didn't think we were ever gonna not be together [Music] when we moved to Washington that's when most the problems we had started happening I worked so much and we stopped being able to work out together spend time together Heath would accuse Cheyenne of cheating on him and Cheyenne would ask me for advice and I would tell her there's a good chance that he's trying to push the blame onto you I had came home to visit my family and two days before I was supposed to go home my husband asked me for a divorce in a text message did you have an affair I never cheated on my wife but I did move on pretty fast afterwards I wish I wouldn't have broken up with her like that I wish we would have talked about it first more in person he's wanting a divorce and the way it happened she felt abandoned unwanted I didn't feel like I was worthy of love anymore or really anything for that matter so I gave up I gave up everything her whole life Came Crashing Down in front of her I hung out with some kids that I went to school with because I was trying to put myself back out there and it just so happens that those kids were into meth I think Cheyenne has lost every friend she ever had this town is horrible with meth right now everybody she hangs with is into this drug I'm not out there doing crazy stuff or not taking care of myself because I do sticking a needle in your own arm that's not crazy I spent the last year alone you haven't been alone yeah I have you know the thing I think that pisses me off the worst is that you play the victim I don't play the victim I've made my choices I don't blame them on anybody else you know what you say you don't blame them on anybody else but you do blame them on everybody else Cheyenne it is harder watching Cheyenne die this slow death than it was to lose my other daughter because hers was fast I wasn't there to help but with Cheyenne it's I see it every day I see her die we have to make a door for our blanket fort call it a Ford this is our home right now I am having Cheyenne stay with me just because this has gotten so severe and I cannot stand to see my kids cold or hungry journey is Cheyenne's boyfriend she's been with him for a few months now they just do drugs together constantly mom can you bring me down the road something happened Journey took off walking apparently something's wrong with journey and now it's SpongeBob something is wrong with journey which means he either did a lot of drugs in a very short amount of time or he's drunk it's right there Journey come here get in Journey he reeks of alcohol but you don't die on me die on me now I know journey is on the verge of death too and so I think if anything happened to Journey Cheyenne would never make it last night I almost killed myself mixing too many things the codependency that they have on each other is not friendship is not love it's who who stole the dope who got the dope who got higher yeah that's the only thing they have in common outside here now okay hey guys hi it's okay I love you just sitting back and watching you kill yourself knowing I can't protect you anymore hurts me every day and leaves me blaming myself for what your life has become you know to me you'll always be my princess but I can only be in your life if you're willing to take part in this recovery process you're my baby girl and I am terrified to lose you when we sit over Shandy in our home feeling that last heartbeat seeing and feeling what we knew was her last breath you all screamed and begged for me to save her and I couldn't I realize now I cannot save you Cheyenne but I can only support your life if you are willing to help yourself today with your addiction just as I sit here with the only thing that I have left of your sister these ashes if you choose to continue on this road I have no other choice than to move on with my life without you you will no longer have a place that you that you hold I'm going through the Charles who knows I'm really sweaty and still but I hope for you is that one day you will value yourself as much as I value you and that you will learn to love yourself as much as we love you Cheyenne will you please accept this gift that we are offering you today foreign I know you don't know I love you so much I love you too thank you guys but no no this is the best thing ever for her hey welcome to Cypress lights Cheyenne I've been sober for 65 days and it feels like a whole new way of life that I'm learning how to live physically I'm feeling pretty good I do exercise about two three times a week emotionally it's been a roller coaster it's still hard to deal with my emotions in the right way so I'm learning how to do that here the best part of recovery for me is that I get to live a happy life again I don't have to be miserable anymore foreign I'm 45 years old just recently and I'm an alcoholic see ya I love beard it doesn't matter what kind it is my favorite beer is an open one you will drink until he either passes out or they're all gone he's out of money with 300 he can be drunk for days and then that's when the sickness of the addiction really sinks in gosh golly holy jumping Dan and I are pretty close growing up he was a good older brother I liked hanging out with Dan as a kid he was somewhat of The Golden Child he was good at everything he did he excelled in sports soccer hockey track dad believed that Dan was on his way to be a successful professional hockey player he would stay at practices sometimes y'all give Dan crap if he didn't give it his all tried so hard I did care about what he thought dad had a lot of expectations and expectations became too much and Dan struggled he felt pressured to score a lot of goals to be the captain playing hockey was supposed to be fun where was it foreign he put a lot of money a lot of effort into driving me to games and everything but he he drank my dad would be the drunk guy in the stands dad was an alcoholic there's no doubt about that you know we go to school in the morning you get home from school and there's drinking there's drinking there's drinking all the time he'd had multiple heart attacks because you will bypass heart surgery and retired at 37 38 years old so it was a medical retirement he worked in a factory he was a Sole Provider of the house and so probably was really tough to be told you you can't work anymore a lot of times my mom took off with my two sisters and my brother and I stayed back because I didn't want my dad to wake up by himself Dan and my dad had a very love-hate relationship he loved my dad very much but he hated my dad's drinking sometimes it would get physical when I would go over to Dan's house his mom and dad you could just feel the tension in that house as soon as you walked in his mom was very cold so most often Dan would come to my house [Music] when Dan and I started dating he was just tall dark and handsome to me it was definite good catch at that same time Dan kind of lost focus with sports on that I think his Focus became me one time Dan and I went for a walk and we were late coming back I guess for practice and his dad chased him down the road with his shovel he's like you're gonna be late for practice he literally wants to hit me with it he's very hurt that his dad was so mean to him because he loved his dad Dan quit playing hockey all together I think it crushed my dad because I think he lived his life vicariously through Dan and that's when things changed he moved out shortly after that I had a girlfriend I got my driver's license and moved right out of the house I wanted to be a police officer that's what I went to school for it was I guess a little bit of a dream but I wasn't willing to commit the effort that went with it so I went and worked in a factory instead and then we got pregnant I was very excited because I knew that if I had a kid I would not treat it the way that my dad treated me I will do whatever it takes to make sure that kid has fun she'd work all over time to provide for the family as far back as I can remember bands always Drank in high school I mean when he was young but when Dan started a family of his own it seemed like his drinking was in excess it's always been in our lives but I think it time went on there was some red flags of drinking on weekends there would be beer flying but he would slow down his drinking so I wouldn't worry foreign [Music] was a good father he was the dad that would get on the ground and play with the kids go and kick a ball love them never shied away from changing a diaper he was my perfect guy shortly after Jacob was born Dan's father passed away unexpectedly in a car accident he had a heart attack while he was driving and running to a tree and and passed away he didn't make it I missed my dad like crazy he was my best friend they were friends and enemies even though his father was an alcoholic he loved his dad he lost the person that he did look up to for praise as little as it ever was Dan just went right downhill from there his drinking there's no stopping at all as long as his eyes were open he was drinking my mom tried to help Dan I think she really struggled with Dan's alcoholism because she lived it with my dad when it became too much for her to handle she just pulled back Dan didn't want to work we were sinking financially so he would drink more he wasn't that caring selfless person anymore we had the average family but behind the closed doors where nobody knew what was going on like nobody was happy foreign we moved up north and lived with my grandparents I remember saying bye dad and he just looked at me and said bye buddy we didn't see him and he didn't reach out it felt like our dad had died for 10 years he didn't see those kids and I raised them by myself if it wasn't for Dan Jr going to see his dad checking on his dad we would have not known what was going on in his life I decided to let my dad come live with me because he was living in a rooming house it wasn't the best living situation for him felt compelled to take his dad in simmer is drinking down with some rules and structure when he finally moved in it wasn't a week after he had broken almost every single rule drunk every day smoking constantly in the house letting my dogs out you think you need more beer right now I can handle some you're gonna clean my truck tomorrow um I'll buy you some beers if you clean my truck is that fair yep he needs it every morning though when he runs out a beer he won't talk to anybody he's depressed he's shaky that's his body telling him like he needs to be drinking I feel obligated to go out and buy him even just one or two beers to just kind of get him over that feeling Bentley come here please family damn oh gosh golly Bentley apparently I gotta lock you in before I go wow I just felt like a truck all you want is twenty dollars just somewhere we've been enabling my dad for the past couple years I want twenty dollars left all these ones go do it just because he's very miserable when he doesn't have beer he's lived with me I've found myself becoming easily agitated angry all the time frustrated stressed I'm kind of just a loaded weapon at this point brain so yeah I'm going upstairs you're not drinking anymore man okay then I'm going upstairs and you can get upstairs because I've had I don't even want to see you for the rest of the night you won't have to I just want to start my own life I don't want to have to come home from work take care of my dad don't bully me I'm not bullying you I'm giving you rules the rules are beaversed Dan is the child come on dad let's go upstairs I just want to rest get upstairs they're on their way [Music] you're just in the parking lot remember Breeze weed slowly be all right Bud hey Dan oh I've not met you my name is Andrew come on in Andrew how are you fine thanks ah see your old family's over there yeah you coming to join us no no hold on slow down Dan if I join it for one no no feel free to see your family there I'm a little bit I have a trust issue right and when I was trying yeah yeah I hear you I hear you the idea would be you'd go back in you're gonna hear your family hear what they have to say hear the love and the sadness in their voice like that's what it's about yeah no as a dad I know deep down in there there's that Dad in you still mm-hmm it never left it never left you can hear some tough stuff when we go back in all right let's go let's go do this thanks for coming back oh hey holy jumping so you see the whole gangs here I do everyone is here because they love you so everyone's going to read a letter there'll be some tough stuff in there I understand all right I watch you drink to the point of Black Codes I've seen you come home beat up bruised up messed up all of the above have been witnessed by our three children affecting each one of them differently I'm having to once again protect them from you their father take the offer of help to my only dead I'm here because I'm not ready to lose you there's so much that I still need from you you don't care about yourself anymore and you've lost everything because of alcohol it makes me feel like we weren't good enough if you choose not to take this out I will cut all connection with you I can't continue to hurt myself trying to help you I missed the diet I remember when I was younger you were always there for me now I feel that you and I have shifted roles now you rely on me for providing a safe place to live if you do not accept the help offered today I have no choice but to cut you from my life and no longer have you live with me are you willing to accept the help being offered to you today yes I'm going to go right now yeah like can you smoke in it I can't smoke in a plane but you can smoke at the facility kids go on a plane we're gonna hit the road [Music] my time at LED show has been life-changing to say the least it is a really good feeling to actually be sober I I wake up in the morning and I'm not hungover I'm not still drunk I'm a happy person now we've been waiting for this moment and none of us could be happier [Music] Caitlin how are you [Music] he just looks like a totally different man now he's like using full sentences he can carry a conversation his whole mentality has changed and it's all for the better I'm looking forward to being a role model I look forward to this new me and my relationship with them [Music] you know me [Music] my name is Jordan I'm 34. I would definitely consider myself an alcoholic I don't feel well what do you want it's Marco right now you already have some this morning yesterday you can drink up to 750 milliliter of vodka in a single sitting all right he has to be helped to do normal daily tasks and he really can't help anyone right now because he can't even take care of himself seeing Jordan today he looks like a complete shell of his former self Jordan had a very accomplished career starting with his military service he's an accomplished veteran who served our country after that he went into the nursing Community he was a beloved ICU nurse he fought on the front lines of covid Jordan no you're not fine there you go Jordan's drinking has caused a lot of heartache and a lot of stress on every member of our family what'd you drink I'm fine I don't want to lose okay yes ma'am all right darling the alcohol addiction has gotten so out of control with Jordan that I am afraid he's going to die this intervention it is his life or his death [Music] so you are feeling like you need a drink right now about three ounces all right so today I'm preparing a monitored amount of alcohol for Jordan every three hours keep him stable because last night he drank so much that I was concerned he was going to have a stroke don't like myself doing this because Phil and I don't allow drinking in our home but when he is this dependent on alcohol if he just quits he will go into seizures and I can't handle that so it's better than me seeing him in a state where I would have to call 9-1-1 and get an ambulance to come and intervene tell me a little bit what's been going on and very happy that we're able to do this and hopefully get Jordan the help that he needs a lot of people they get addicted because of some form of trauma so I wanted to find out what your childhood was like what was it like for him my parents you know raised us the best they could we never and childhood like really wanted for anything we would go on vacations together as a family we went to church every Sunday together as a family we would all sit down together and have dinner as a family so what was going on 18. that's when he joined the army [Music] during my time in the Army I met my wife and overall it was the best times of my life I loved where I was working in the Army and then I loved building a life in a family I have two daughters age 12 and 6 right now I was 100 involved at any second that I could be I changed diapers I take them to school fishing everything you could do outdoors I was excited to be a dad trauma is experiences that build up so did he ever talk to you guys about how it was working in ICU during covid it took a lot out of him he was the last person that a lot of these people saw and I just remember him saying that you know the amount of death that he was around was really hard for him I think it was very shocking for Jordan to see that he was losing so many patients to covid-19 and I remember that's when Jordan's drinking went from casual drinks to drinking on a day-to-day basis and it just seems like it's progressively gotten worse he was telling me that like he would stop off and get three bottles of wine and drink those on his way home just so he could go to sleep that was his everyday routine that was a period of time when it was very hopeless for him I saw the relationship between him and his wife deteriorate [Music] and how long did he work in ICU up until nine months ago Jordan had gone to work just got to work and his wife called him while he was there on the floor and told him that she wanted a divorce she just unloaded on him saying you're never home you know you're drunk a lot and all the distress that created something happened to him that particular night can you go over that for me what happened that night at work I can't really see that on camera man that's really what made him hit rock bottom after he he overdosed was not able to go back to the hospital that he was working at I'm sure he's probably just stayed drunk the entire time to deal with it and unfortunately now he's been drinking very hard alcohol as well drinks half a bottle of vodka that's just that's his life right now since since our brother died my little brother Aaron no way so sorry what happened um I don't know in October of 21 we lost our Middle Brother Aaron how did he pass away the official report is that he died of suicide wow how old was he 30 31 31 oh my God so sorry if he doesn't get help we will be burying another brother and my parents will be burying another child and then we'll probably be burying a mom right after that wow how are you feeling Jordan you feeling okay right now at the moment I'm not highly Intoxicated by any means and they just pulled up outside thank you fingers crossed feeling all right yeah I can't feel my feet but to be all right Jordan how you doing I'm 10. nice to meet you two Jordan Jordan here a couple days ago so I had the opportunity of sitting down with your family and plan an intervention for you they just put together some thoughts and they just wrote them down if it's okay if they could share them hopefully a great opportunity for you but that's all up to you I'm willing to listen to you Derek you want to go Jordan I'm here today because at one point in time you are my best friend some of the best memories in my life are made with you you and I have Grown Apart over time life has taken us on different paths as we had our families and work to provide for them foreign I deserve to have my brother back and mom cannot bury another son so Mom you want to read your letter Jordan I am here today because I love you I remember your childhood and it makes me smile and then you became a father absolutely great dad sadly ever since the alcohol has taken you over and has compromised your relationships with your precious girls it is stole your nursing career and caused so much stress and worry on Dad and I every day I fear that I'm gonna go check on you and that you'll be dead I don't want to live this way anymore now you need to be here for yourself too [Music] they're all here because they love you and they're all worried about you because they already lost one sibling they can't lose you and they won't we found a treatment center in Texas Warrior's Heart and it's for vets and First Responders and one of the common things that I heard is that therapy doesn't work for you typically yeah because when people ask me how are you feeling I can't really tell you like I don't have feelings I mean everybody flew in here for this so your sister came all the way from Italy you want to answer our question situation if you are willing to go to Warrior's Heart right now well I have any of my stuff we have together bags packed ready is there a flight booked yeah that's all you have to do is say yes I want to get well anything that you need Mama mail you will make sure you get and as soon as you get on that airplane I'm going to call the facility and they're going to call the courts and they're going to get everything arranged so they will start that process for you to be getting your girls back all right fine good foreign feels great to be sober right now physically feeling great mentally a lot of the clarity is coming back so so we have a lot of different coping strategies and group therapy sessions process groups and then you have one-on-one sessions with your individual therapist you know doing different projects there wood shop they've got canine facility where you know you know you can train service dogs and you know bring them home looking forward to getting back into the hospitals working as a nurse in the icus be with my kids we FaceTime every day I definitely miss them but you know being able to see their faces and hear their voices every day is just an inspiration you know motivation to keep you know moving forward you know doing the next best thing [Music] my sister Sarah was one of the biggest models in the Bay Area she was getting gigs for some of the major stores major makeup companies I've done everything from Benefit Cosmetics to Old Navy The Men's Warehouse Charlotte Russe amongst many more she had pictures all over the place I was just like whoa that's my niece whoa that's my niece there too what I liked the most about modeling was how much money you made in like such little time she was making ten thousand dollars in photo shoot she had the world at her feet but right now my daughter Sarah is addicted to fentanyl in addition to fentanyl Sarah is also using meth so I got the perfume that I was trying to have you find and this is 35 that's like 120 so far so we could get 12 in blues because of her addiction she has a police record I've lost count how many times I've been arrested mostly it was because of possessions but I also have two ID thefts and two theft ones she's so skinny she's like size double zero pants right now her cheeks are sunken in I'm currently homeless I often stay with friends or in cars hotels [Music] I have a hug yeah I love you I love you so much [Music] Joshua is my 11 year old son I'm so excited you're finally here I know I missed you when Sarah was 17 she met a boy she really loved and about five months into the relationship Sarah found out she was pregnant holding Joshua for the first time was complete Bliss it was like nothing I've ever experienced Sarah took to Motherhood right away she was very protective very loving but because of Sarah's addiction right now I have temporary custody of Joshua that's been almost two years I really wanted to be here before you woke up it's okay right now I want me my two kids and nephew all live in my mom's apartment what do you want to do today uh probably a board game ooh well let's give it a try then you wanna yeah we could see if Auntie Laura or Nana wants to play too since her addiction Sarah has sometimes Gone without seeing Joshua for like two months sometimes longer did you have lunch baby oh yeah I had like cheeseburger okay honey it's important for me to see my son because although I'm struggling I still want him to know that I love him and I want to be there from as much as I can just a second Joshie oh she's in the bathroom come on no come here no come here she takes like around like an hour or two hours in the bathroom but it's still really fun to spend time with my mom Sarah was my second child Ashley is two years older and when Sarah was two I had my third child Billy even though my dad wasn't around we had my mom she always was there for us and my grandma and grandpa so we always had that love and support that we needed when Sarah was eight I had met someone we were living together for about a year and that's when I had my daughter Laura Sarah and I were super excited to have a little sister but Laura's dad was an addict so that was not a healthy relationship and he wasn't a healthy figure for us my relationship with Laura's father was very turbulent I did start suffering with some depression because he was abusive and he would threaten to kill me in front of my kids if I ever tried to leave and horrible traumatic stuff going on how bad was it Laura's dad was a dealer he was a dealer [Music] as soon as I smoke did I felt better and I got addicted to math that quick it just went bad fast there was no structure rarely any groceries in the house and I was like made fun of a lot at school because my clothes would be dirty one time she had to go on her knees and pretend to be a dog and beg people for food because she was extremely hungry it was just yeah completely embarrassing Professor with your grandparents all around us in rehab yeah okay and then so Sherry when you got out of the rehab what happened I didn't have a lot of family support at that time so we ended up at a family homeless shelter for a little bit oh wow that definitely had to have been a culture shock it was a little scary it was just dirty and I remember like maggots coming out of the carpet and there was like feet of just like piled up on the floor it was always a disaster that she was getting older she had two jobs she was really together then when Sarah was 18 she submitted her modeling picture and she ended up getting signed by a Ford modeling Sarah had one of the biggest Globes of all time she went from being bullied and teased to becoming one of the biggest models in the Bay Area she was very successful and she was making a lot of money it was like a life-size poster board of me in like every Macy's and it was funny my cousin sent me a picture of her like posing next to it it felt like she was on top of the world and there was no stopping her and then when I was 19 I went to a My Chemical Romance concert and met my favorite band member over the course of a year we kind of just became Inseparable it wasn't long after that we got engaged and then Sarah moved to LA to be with him they were in love they were planning future together I signed with an agency in Los Angeles but they were like if you really want to be taken seriously you need to lose weight around your hips I tried exercising and stuff like that but it just wasn't able to do it [Music] they felt good they suppressed my appetite and I didn't really see it as a problem but looking back on it Sarah and her boyfriend had addiction issues they would go out and you know drink and hang out more than than the average person and then I started to really impact my modeling career because I started showing up late I wasn't responsive to text and really started losing out on a lot of gigs then when Sarah was 20 our family had moved up to Bend Oregon my brother-in-law had gotten a really good job and we just kind of all followed suit [Music] both of them seemed a little unhappy living in Oregon Oregon was such a culture shock like there wasn't any like amusement parks malls things that we were used to doing together and Sarah's fiance's fans weren't happy with their relationship on social media a lot of people were bullying her and telling her to kill herself it was pretty scary and it was hard to not hate being in my own skin so one day we went to the car dealership and um the guy who sold us our Toyota ended up selling us our drugs too [Music] I noticed Sarah was sleeping a lot her fiance was missing flights [Music] she gave it all up for her addiction and seemed to not look back I think it helped her to escape her past childhood traumas I started going into hospitals to get prescriptions because I couldn't find them to buy off the street and when I was 23 I was blacklisted from hospitals for faking injuries and so that's when I turned to heroin because I was easier to find I found out that Sarah was using heroin when she came over to my house and started nodding off while we're talking and that was pretty disturbing how are you oh my gosh you are more than just beautiful on the outside your heart is full of love you're so important to me about watching you hurt yourself is too hard we all make mistakes and your addiction doesn't Define you it's never too late to turn your life around I love you forever and always matter what please put yourself in recovery Sarah I don't want to think about how I will ever tell your son he will never see you again or hear his mom say I love you and I'm so proud of you please don't let these drugs steal that from him and from yourself will you accept this gift um yeah thank you [Music] my son deserves a healthy and present mom and I know in order to be that I have to just give this my all so hopefully this is last time that he has to go through that [Music] [Music] awesome would light up a room always wanting to do things that would please people he always made it about his family and you know his uncle Adam and myself and and Nanny and Papa and everybody was just so important to him everybody's really close and we're all it's like friends it's not a family we get together we have good times good laughs she puts her hand in and the bird starts me and my family we'd always stick together we always you know did Traditions together we always got together for everyone's birthday honestly family was number one to me and once a while you cut catch a glimpse of the old Austin where are you going give me a minute please but um it's getting further and further apart my name is Austin I'm addicted to opiates [Music] his priorities have definitely changed in his choices have changed yeah I might have to run out quick why I gotta go meet someone you do this every time we get together I know it's just I gotta run and go do this I seen him go from having all kinds of stuff to where he is now and he's got absolutely nothing he sold everything I have a huge video game collection or at least I did and uh it was it was appraised at like 35 Grand or something like that something absolutely insane thank you 60 bucks and I sold most of it for drugs hey here I got an extra five for you the point not all right okay thank you I appreciate it it's drugs it's sleep it's drugs it's sleep it's drugs it's sleep like he doesn't know how to be sober anymore when Austin was born that was an incredible day it was an exhilarating day it was the biggest high of my life because he became my world that instant it was wonderful I was a young father I was blessed with a baby boy who was healthy he was a great baby just super happy just just a happy boy who brought incredible joy and and love into our home my sister she was a Teen Mom and my parents were very supportive of my sister and Austin's father he was an easy-going kid he was a smart kid very smart kid my uncle Adam and my dad they were kind of like the ones I looked up to as a kid I thought my dad was the coolest he taught me how to you know go fishing hunting my sister was a lot more dedicated to the relationship than Austin's father was I guess in the beginning it would be like any relationship and then you have your ups and downs she wanted a family and he didn't want to commit 100 to the family life when Austin's dad and I had decided that we were no longer going to be dating that was hard on Austin we only saw my dad on Wednesdays and then we every second weekend or whatnot Austin always missed his dad you know obviously it's your it's your dad right foreign always played board games on the weekends watch movies all the time and you know play Road hockey out in the driveway or soccer in the backyard and it was just great seamless transition we would have taco Tuesday every Tuesday you know we had we had game nights on the weekend he was a good guy you know what I mean he is he's an amazing stepdad when he was about 13 14 he got approached to go to a program it's called The Ivy program and it's for exceptionally smart kids academically I'd always went to class loved math loved like I was really passionate in school I didn't choose to go because most of my friends were going to another school and when he chose the social side of things for high school rather than the academic side I was a little disappointed a little nervous [Music] we started seeing lots of changes in him he started making some choices that I would I didn't agree with with regards to the the friends he chose to hang out with friends who would skip school friends who would explore drugs marijuana that kind of stuff I I was still I was still a good kid you know what I mean like I always still went to school you know I it was just I was like oh smoke weed you know on the weekends or at a party we always had chats about you know making the right choices and and how that affects us later in life he would say well it's just marijuana it's just marijuana my back's really bad right so I started getting Percocets I was getting 30 a month I said hey you know it's not working for me I started getting 60 a month I said you know I I can't I need more man like I'm taking one in the morning one at night and I fell in love with the feeling I fell in love with the high it just it it takes over your life and you don't think it's going to and then you become an addict everybody just kind of thought it would it was just a phase everyone thought it would go away you know and he's going into heavier drugs and then heavier drugs and it felt like his life was just all about where he was going to get his next higher how he was going to get through the day and he was at this guy's place or that guy's place he just wouldn't come home he stopped going to school you can't call the cops because they're over a certain age they won't do anything we're worried definitely worried when I saw the downfall of him after the drugs I didn't want anything to do with it so I kind of stayed away from it all he's burning all of his Bridges he's lived with his mom and Jeremy and that didn't work out he lived with his dad and his after a while his dad kicked him out we don't have that father-son relationship he's second he's isolated himself and yourself I have a lot of guilt [Music] um that she's having to deal with this at the age that they're at because they're supposed to be grandparents and they're not supposed to be dealing with this at all Austin in the last year he's you can tell he's definitely gone downhill he was in jail for a week or two they had tried to get money out of her father and why they did that they needed the money for drugs hi beautiful I have heard about ali I have heard that she's into the same uh type of drug use and that they they do it together yes action right so foreign okay okay it's a needle package girl who says it it's probably for me isn't it it was probably in my bag I know or in my pants pocket and fell out I know Grandma is that what you do no I usually smoke it off for you and you took my foil I would like that well back that's okay okay I know I can't I know Grandma I know he's such a great kid like he really is seeing him like this it's like a slow death it's like you just you're slowly watching him die and I feel like I'm letting it happen in front of me I'm no criminal I gotta find this foil as she threw out I don't know if it's in here which is disgusting I'm pretty cheesed because it had a full Coke on it [Music] sucks my mom her and I that's all we talk about we talk about his drug use you know we're sending pictures back and forth of all the drug paraphernalia she's finding in her home not spoons right but you can't be leaving that crap it was just a rapper it wasn't even the campus in her house Mom or leaving it anywhere and you're killing yourself I know my bottom line he's got to move okay he's got to move out but I can't cut ties I will just be honest with you that that is definitely a slippery slope because you got to realize that's a that's a pattern you've had with him for a long time B it's a part of your nature and that's a beautiful thing to carry it's just that at this time it's actually hurting more than it's helping [Music] foreign [Music] Jerry Jaden awesome oh let's go Jerry awesome don't touch me Austin get the out of here I'm here now 10 seconds please no I've been here for years it's your little brother man we didn't lie to you I don't care get out of here guys I think we gotta let him walk foreign you're good thank you do you think he's gonna come back with us or no look he's not coming let's regroup inside I was lost I didn't know where to go I didn't know what to do I was broken I had nowhere to live I ended up living in a shelter I knew I had to get help I texted my grandmother I was like I don't want to do this anymore you know I hate my life I I'd rather die than be dope sick but my grandma ended up picking me up with my mother and my mom said I brought the letters from everybody can I read them to you after I read those letters I was like maybe it is time to like actually do something about this because I'm done with this life I'm just I'm so over it I love life I'm the old me again just the joy I have that wasn't there when I was on drugs it's really amazing [Music]

Channel: A&E

Views: 7,733,930

Keywords: a&e, aetv, a&e tv, ae, a&e television, a&e shows, a and e, a+e, a&e full episodes, Intervention, Intervention full episodes, Intervention clips, intervention season 19, addiction, drug addiction, drug abuse intervention, watch intervention, intervention scenes, drug abuse, drugs, drug addict, a&e intervention, Intervention: Most Viewed Moments of 2022, intervention show, intervention best of, intervention compilations, compilations, best of, intervention drug addicts, addicts

Id: KZKOb-Zj-Yg

Length: 170min 57sec (10257 seconds)

Published: Tue Nov 15 2022