Tom's drug addiction story: video

Transcript - Tom's Story

Transcript - Tom's Story

Tom's mom: He was an excellent kid. He didn't do much wrong. He was a quiet kid, he was a happy kid.

Tom's mom: I just didn't think that it would be a possibility.

Tom's mom: He would come home and have a few bites to eat for dinner and then retreat to his room.

Tom's mom: Didn't put two and two together at all but I still knew something wasn't right.

Tom's story

Tom: I had bad asthma when I was younger, like severe. When I was 16 years old, I was walking home from school and I collapsed on the ground. It was a lung collapse. I was on a strong painkiller in the hospital. I took them as the doctor recommended. I got a taste for it. One and a half years later I took my first prescription drug that I wasn't supposed to take, cost me eight years of my life.

Tom: I had bad asthma when I was younger, like severe. When I was 16 years old, I was walking home from school and I collapsed on the ground. It was a lung collapse. I was on a strong painkiller in the hospital. I took them as the doctor recommended. I got a taste for it. One and a half years later I took my first prescription drug that I wasn't supposed to take, cost me eight years of my life.

Tom: The addiction, it literally takes over your life and you don't think about anything else. You cannot function in the morning, you're constantly getting sick, it's just, it's a bad feeling, it's a hangover times five.

Tom: And meanwhile your family's losing respect for you. I hid it from my mom, I hid it from my family. I could not let them know that I was dying inside.

Tom: I took advantage of my mom. She saved up $3000 dollars for college for me and I took it and I spent it on drugs, every cent. I'll never forgive myself for that, ever, ever, ever.

Tom: A lot of the people that I knew had a severe, severe addiction problem and I saw where my life was gonna be in three years and I could not let that happen, I couldn't do it.

Tom: I researched addiction treatment and that was literally what  saved my life.

Tom's mom: One of the big things I think that helped him was that he could talk to me, cause he didn't have to hide it anymore.

Tom: Good things on the horizon. I got a great girlfriend, she supports me, she's by my side every day. And look at me, I'm actually starting a business now. I build and design remote control airplanes and helicopters.

Tom's mom: He's a very bright man. I think he would like to go to engineer school and I'd like to help him with that.

Tom: To this day I never forget what I put her through. My mom thought I was a great kid, she really did, and look what happened to me. She's forgiven me, she you know, respects that I'm trying to help myself. She supports me all the way.

Narrator:

Get the fact and talk with your kids about prescription drug abuse.

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