After a Michigan woman died from a heroin and fentanyl overdose on Monday, her mother took one last picture of her in the hospital, showing the grim reality of the consequences of drug use.
FOX reports that Cheryl Towery, 49, of Towery, said her daughter had battled with addiction for seven years before a fatal dose of heroin and fentanyl. On Thursday, 22-year-old Elaina pulled into a Detroit Burger King off of McNichols and Schaefer with a friend, went inside to the restroom, and shot up heroin.
“She pulled in here to use the restroom and after 20-25 minutes, he thought it was odd she didn’t come back out,” said Cheryl.
At around 5:30 p.m. that afternoon, Cheryl received a call that Elaina would home soon, but hours later, she received a Facebook message that her daughter overdosed in the Burger King bathroom.
“I wasn’t prepared for what I saw in the emergency room, because that’s the worst I’ve ever seen her.”
Although Elaina grew up in a loving, supportive home in Michigan, Cheryl said her daughter began dating an “abusive boyfriend” in 2010 who convinced her to start taking prescription drugs. She developed a habit that eventually led to heroin use. Elaina gave birth to a son, now 5, that she gave up due to her drug addiction. Her mother said Elaina’s former boyfriend would pimp her daughter out at hotels, beat her, and keep her doped up on heroin.
A medical scan on Monday showed that Elaina no long had brain activity. Her liver and kidneys were shutting down and her muscles had already began deteriorating.
Cheryl hopes that sharing the last photo of her daughter dying in the hospital will help others stay away from drugs and send a somber reminder to anyone considering drugs or anyone battling an addiction. She also vowed to fight to help keep people selling drugs behind bars.
“I’m going to fight for the rest of my life to make sure the people down here on the street selling this to people, need to be locked up.”
[Feature Photo: Cheryl Towery]
