A US mother whose near-death photo went viral after she overdosed has shared a powerful update celebrating her three years of sobriety since.
In 2016, Indiana woman Erika Hurt was photographed slumped over in the front seat of her vehicle after overdosing on opiates.
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Emergency responders found her still holding the syringe, with her 10-month-old son crying in the back seat. They revived Hurt with Narcan and she was taken to the hospital, after which they arrested her on charges of child neglect and possession of drug paraphernalia.
After the image of her unconscious was shared by authorities, it went viral and Hurt hit-bottom. But then she used the "absolute worst moment" of her life as a wake-up call for her to fight to be clean.
Now, three years later, new photos of Hurt and her son Parker are going viral - but this time they're happy ones.
In an anniversary post, Hurt shared side-by-side shots of her overdose alongside a new one of her with her child.
"Millions saw me overdose after a photo taken of me by a police officer went viral," she wrote on Facebook page The Addict's Diary.
"None of those people have seemed to have time to reach out and check on me, so here is an update: Today I celebrated three years clean and my son gets to have his mommy back. How about you make THAT go viral!"
And the story of her journey has gone viral, gaining over 140,000 reactions and 100,000 shares.
Hurt hopes her path to sobriety can inspire other people to beat their addictions.
"I hope people see how low my bottom was and that they know if their bottom is not that far from mine, that they can come back too," she told Good Morning America.
"I just think it's really cool because I feel even more planted and stable in my recovery [today]."
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