By Lindsey Grant

 

In 2005, Stephen Hayes* lost custody of his child to the Georgia foster care system. It happened because of Hayes’ addiction to opioids. What began as a prescription medication to ease the pain of an on-the-job back injury, developed into a near insatiable heroin addiction.

 

The First Dose

After being prescribed Hydrocodone, Hayes did feel relief for his injury, but soon after he recognized his dependence on the drug. “I struggled with alcohol addiction in high school and part of my early 20s. I knew what addiction felt like, but my doctor never told me the risk I was taking when he prescribed them.” Hayes says the medicine came with quite a few refills but eventually his back got better and the refills ended.

 

From Prescription Drugs to Heroin

For a few days after Hayes ran out of the last bottle, he thought he could get through the withdrawal and everything would be fine. Hayes’ wife and the mother to his son Mitchell* had been out of the picture for a while, so he knew he needed to be there for his son.

 

“I tried to ignore the pain. I knew was in my head since my back injury had completely healed, but this was different from drying out when I was trying to quit drinking. So, I went and found the first dealer selling heroin, and that’s when the switch flipped.” Hayes held together the façade that everything was okay at home for three months, but eventually things fell apart when his addiction became worse. He relied on his mother, Mary* to watch his child while he was high. His mother, she became suspicious of her son’s behavior. After questioning Hayes’ son, Mitchell, she realized he was struggling with an opioid addiction.

 

Losing His Son

Mary, elderly and struggling with her own health problems, knew she could not care for Mitchell full time and could not keep her son’s secret. “It was the hardest thing I’ve ever done, calling DFACS on my own son. But I just couldn’t do it all on my own. “she says. Within days, young Mitchell was taken in by the Whitfield County Department of Family and Children’s Services and placed in a foster home.

 

Hayes says that for a while this made him even more reliant on heroin as he felt he had nothing left to live for. “For a while, every time I woke up I was surprised I hadn’t died during a binge or in my sleep, that’s how bad it was. I wasn’t even showing up to my weekly visits with Mitchell, I felt like I didn’t deserve to see him,” says Hayes.

 

The Turning Point

At the end of 2006, the state moved to terminate Hayes’ parental rights and allow Mitchell to be put up for adoption. Hayes had not tried to work his case plan, had failed all mandatory drug tests and had even been arrested for possession twice his son was placed in the system. “That’s when I woke up,” he says. “I realized my son was going to grow up and see someone else as his dad. It was hard, but it was what I needed to start trying to change.”

 

Clean

Hayes was not able to get over his addiction before his parental rights were terminated despite his best efforts. He would get clean only to fall back into his old habits. He does live a sober life now and has started his own construction business. The family who adopted his son allows Hayes to see him every other weekend. While this ending was not perfect, it is much better than many opiate addicts ever experience.

 

The National Health Crisis

Each year, there are 30,000 opioid-related deaths in the United States, according to The Oregonian. Fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters and sons and daughters are dying every day because of these drugs. If you or a loved one suffer from a narcotics addiction, call the Narcotic Recovery Hotline at 1-888-667-0854 and get help today.

 

*Names have been changed.