A young mother who battled a crippling meth addiction has shared powerful before and after photos of her police mugshot as she celebrates turning her life around.
Jessica Nicholas, 31, was charged with supplying meth and last May and was sentenced to seven months’ home detention, which ended in December.
Her addiction left her weighing just 45kg, her skin covered in scabs and teeth falling out.
Sixteen months after getting clean, the mother-of-one reminisced on her past by sharing striking photos of the day she got arrested, and a recent shot of herself.
‘I’m f**king shookith. But I’m also proud as punch as to how far I have come in just over a year…I can’t even right now,’ she wrote.
Sixteen months after getting clean, the mother-of-one reminisced on her past by sharing striking photos of the day she got arrested, and a recent shot of herself
While it’s still early days, Ms Nicholas isn’t 100 per cent certain she will never relapse but said every day gets easier.
At the height of her addiction, Ms Nicholas used meth multiple times a day from the moment she woke up. She eventually turned to selling the drug to fund her own addiction.
On October 12, police swarmed her home and arrested her.
She used her home confinement time to rebuild her life and become drug-free.
‘A cop said to me, ‘The destruction that you have caused to the community is huge’ and that’s going to stick with me forever, because he’s not wrong,’ Ms Nicholas told the NZ Herald.
Ms Nicholas is remorseful for turning to drug dealing, but said her offending gave her the determination to ‘reverse the damage’ and try to help others.
At the height of her addiction, Ms Nicholas used meth multiple times a day from the moment she woke up, and turned to selling the drug to fund her own habit
Ms Nicholas used meth for the first time when she was just 18, and said ‘once was enough’ to get her hooked
Ms Nicholas used meth for the first time when she was just 18, and said ‘once was enough’ to get her hooked.
‘I loved it. After a while I needed it, I didn’t like coming down. I thought it made me happy, I just wasn’t a nicer person when I came off it,’ she said.
The 31-year-old, who spent nearly all of her money on her addiction, said she was so committed to the drug that she didn’t want to give it up.
Despite being in the depths of dependence on meth, her three-year-old daughter Jayde was never exposed to the drug.
‘I was an addict and at the same time I was a mother, I was a very well-functioning addict and it got to the point where it was just like someone smoking a cigarette and getting on with their day,’ she said.
Ms Nicholas had been living with parents prior to her arrest, and continued to stay with her them during her home detention under strict rules of honesty and no drug use.
She said being on house arrest was a blessing in disguise, and gave her the time she needed to ‘get her s**t together’.
Ms Nicholas had been living with parents prior to her arrest, and continued to stay with her them during her home detention under strict rules of honesty and no drug use
After enduring vomiting and sweats while getting clean, Ms Nicholas’ appetite eventually came back and she started going to counselling.
Ms Nicholas said she still struggles with thoughts of the highs and lows of meth, but said over time the lingering feelings have subsided.
She credits talking open and honestly with her parents and counselor with helping lessen thoughts about using again.
The mother-of-one no longer has any contact with people associated with her past to avoid any temptation of relapse.
Ms Nicholas, who labelled her former self as a ‘walking billboard of a meth addict,’ said her relationships are now thriving, and is proud of how healthy she is now.
Source link