‘Drugs destroy lives’ and no one has knows that more than a loved one who is left behind after addiction has claimed one of their kin. Take Lisa Holland for example.
The mother-of-two has been struggling with her grief since her husband Mike Settles tragically died from a heroin overdose on September 2
In a bid to make sense of her loss the Ohio woman posted a photo to Facebook of her and her two children smiling next to his open casket along saying “the main reason I took it was to show you the reality of addiction”.
In her lengthy post Eva wrote: “If you don’t choose recovery every single day this will be your only way out. No parent should have to bury their child and no child as young as ours should have to bury their parent… This was preventable it didn’t have to happen but one wrong choice destroyed his family.”
So far Eva’s post has been shared more than 2,500 times on Facebook and while she had her fair share of critics who were rubbed the wrong way by her post she has been inundated with both messages of support.
One commenter wrote: “Wow how well put! I am so sorry for your loss and I can only hope this helps the next person!”
And another added: “I am a [sic] addict too your story breaks my heart it took so much courage to do this i’m [sic] so sorry for your loss but it makes me sure I want to keep my recovery may God be with you”.
After sharing her message Eva posted on September 10 about how people have said it was the reality check they needed to get off drugs.
“I’ve had people tell me that his story stopped them from using and others who say it’s motivating them to continue their recovery,” she wrote. “Thank you every one for sharing my post. Means more to me then you’ll ever know.”
Eva also said she had discussed her decision to be so public about Mike’s death with her late husband’s parents.
“I had a talk with Mike’s parents today about my post,” she wrote, “They said it doesn’t bother them they just want me to clarify that although we know he struggled with addiction that they have not gotten a coroner’s report back yet with the official cause of death.”
What do you think of the post?
You can real Eva’s full Facebook post below:
“I’m sure this photo makes a lot of people uncomfortable it may even piss a few people off but the main reason I took it was to show the reality of addiction. If you don’t choose recovery every single day this will be your only way out. No parent should have to bury their child and no child as young as ours should have to bury their parent. This was preventable it didn’t have to happen but one wrong choice destroyed his family. I know a lot of people may be upset I’m putting it out in the open like This but hiding the facts is only going to keep this epidemic going. The cold hard truth is heroin kills. You may think it will never happen to you but guess what that’s what Mike thought too. We were together 11 years. I was there before it all started. I knew what he wanted out of this life, all his hopes and dreams. He never would’ve imagined his life would turn out this way. He was once so happy and full of life. He was a great son, brother, friend but most importantly he was a great dad. He loved those kids more than anything. But as we all know sometimes life gets tough and we make some wrong choices. His addiction started off with pain pills then inevitably heroin. He loved us all so much he decided enough was enough and went to rehab at the end of last year. He got out right before Christmas as a brand new man. He had found His purpose for living again, he found his gorgeous smile again, he became the man, the son, the brother, the dad that we all needed him to be again. He did so good for so long but then a couple months ago It started with a single pill for a “tooth ache” which inevitably lead him back down the road of addiction instead of staying the coarse of recovery. He said he could handle it, that he could stop on his own and didn’t need to get help again. Well he was wrong, last Wednesday he took his last breath. My kids father, the man I loved since I was a kid, a great son and a great person lost his battle. I just needed to share his story in case it can help anyone else.”
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