Video of woman's drug overdose goes viral; now she's speaking out
It’s not an easy video to watch, a young woman falling unconscious in her car after overdosing on drugs. It was especially hard for Katrina Henry, the woman who was captured in the viral video — and now she’s speaking out about it.
More than 750,000 people have watched video of the Milwaukee, Wisconsin, woman’s overdose since it was posted on Tuesday by a man who said he wanted to show the reality of the opioid epidemic.
“It makes me sick,” Katrina Henry told CBS affiliate WDJT in Milwaukee. Distressed by what it showed, she said, “That’s not me. I would never do something like that.” But in the grip of her addiction, she did.
Jon Adams said he started recording after someone called 911 to get the woman help.
“People need to see. They need to see what happens,” Adams said in the video.
As the drugs overwhelmed her, Henry lost control and crashed into a parked car, unconscious behind the wheel. Luckily, no one was hurt, but Henry knows it could have been much, much worse.
“I can’t bring myself to think about it,” Katrina told WDJT. “I do, and I hate myself so much.”
In the video, three paramedics surrounded Henry as she was lying lifeless on the pavement. After giving her several doses of Narcan, also known as naloxone, a prescription medicine that blocks the effects of opioids and reverses an overdose, Henry was revived.
“She almost killed herself,” said Adams, as paramedics picked Henry up and carried her to a nearby ambulance.
Though it’s difficult to watch, Henry says the video forces her to finally admit that she’s an addict.
“I was acting like I could live two different lives and you can’t. I can’t,” said Katrina, adding that she wants professional help to get clean. “I actually want it this time.”
She hopes the viral video will motivate others struggling with addiction to get clean.
“Admit it and go get help,” Henry advises fellow addicts. “You don’t have to be ashamed of yourself.”
Henry will start outpatient treatment for drugs on Monday. She’s waiting for a bed to open at an inpatient rehabilitation center to help follow through on her promise to turn her life around.
