In October an unsettling video went viral of an elderly man named Ronald Hiers and his wife Carla passed out on the pavement after overdosing on heroin.
The live-stream, shot in broad daylight, shocked many people, and the man who took the video and laughed at the sedated couple was heavily criticised for his insensitivity.
But Ronald Hiers, who has been addicted to heroin for 24 years, has spoken out saying ‘the video was the best thing that happened to me. It got us in a position to get help’.
Hiers’ incredibly honest response shows how emotional it was for him to watch the video of himself writhing on the pavement in Memphis, Tennessee.
In the interview with CNN, Ronald said:
I am a son. A husband. A brother. A grandfather. A father. I’m a human being. That’s what so many people missed about it. Those were two human beings.
He did not put myself nor my wife in that position. We put ourselves there. Had it been his mother or father on that sidewalk, on their face, he would have certainly called 911 instead of filming a video to see how many hits he could get on it.
Courtland Garner, who took the video, said that he hoped the video would discourage young people from doing drugs because “all the kids are on social media, and when kids see that video, you know what they are going to say? I don’t want to look stupid like that I don’t want to do those drugs,”
Ironically, under his rapper name ‘Super Kush’, he recently released a song called Drug Life where he clutches onto a massive bag of weed and ‘makes it rain’ with drug money (yeah it is as cringe as it sounds).
Turning Point rehab centre gave Ronald and Carla a scholarship onto their rehabilitation program and he is well on the route to recovery, living a much healthier lifestyle.
The event sparked a conversation about the serious heroin epidemic in America. Karen Morgan, from the drug charity Turning Point Recovery Memphis, said the city was seeing an increase in heroin overdoses.
She said:
People tend to think they’ve done it to themselves. Well no they haven’t. Their brains have been changed by the use of the chemicals.
Here is the full video that was taken of the couple on that dark day…
They out here fucked up!!
Posted by Courtland Garner on Monday, October 3, 2016
Though the video received 3.2 million views and may have raised some awareness and helped the couple into rehab, it seems inhumane to just whip your phone out and laugh at people who are in such a vulnerable position.
We hope they make a full recovery and stay off heroin for good.
