Rachael's Story

My best friend, Rachael Sauls began her fight with addiction almost 5 years ago at the age of 15. After spending most of her life feeling worthless, hopeless and misunderstood she began to turn to away from herself. From a young age Rachael knew she was attracted to females. She came out to her family and like many families, they took it hard a first. In a way she thought she was rebelling against her faith, her family and her friends.

Her addiction began as nothing more than a few drinks and a pain pill or two but eventually turned into a downward spiral leaving her broken and lost. She was practically living with strangers, in search of her next high. Living life on the go, never knowing where she would end up. She lost contact with her family and friends. She gave up her sports and extra curricular activities to devote her time to her drug use.

“You keep doing it and doing it and you gain that confidence until one day, it destroys you.” She hit rock bottom after the one person she could always turned to had to turn away from her in to save her. She then decided to seek help. She turned to her faith to pull herself out and admitted herself to Jacob’s Well Recovery Center where she completed the 6-month recovery program. Rachael has been clean for over 1 year. In her own words, “Nothing can stop me now.”

Now Rachael is a free. She lives with her mom, sister and niece. She took her life back. She works full-time and is enrolling in college classes for the spring 2017 semester. As I look at my best friend, whom I have known since before her drug use, I couldn't be prouder of the woman she has become. She is Rachael again and that is all I could have ever asked for.

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