LAWRENCE, MASSACHUSETTS — Heartbreaking video has emerged showing a mother OD’ing on drugs at a Family Dollar store in Lawrence, Massachusetts as her 2-year-old daughter desperately tries to revive her.
Police released the footage on Wednesday to highlight the horrific consequences of drug addiction and what they say is an all-too-common occurrence, WFXT reported.
The woman overdosed on heroin or another opiate, such as fentanyl, according to local police.
Witnesses described the woman’s eyes rolling in the back of her head as her body lay limp on the floor.
The woman’s daughter screamed and cried as she tried in vain to revive her mother from the smack-induced torpor. As the poor child panicked, some bystanders filmed the whole thing.
The cellphone footage shines an uncomfortable light on America’s heroin and opiate epidemic.
Police said it was disturbing to see addiction overtake maternal instincts as a young child was left vulnerable by her mother’s actions. The cops also said they wished the person filming had done something to help the kid.
Paramedics arrived on the scene and were able to revive the woman with two shots of opiate antidote Narcan.
The cops later searched the woman’s handbag and found straws, baggies and drug residue.
The video is the key piece of evidence in the police’s case against the mother, who will be charged with child endangerment. Her daughter was taken into protective custody.
According to local police, children are present at around one in 10 of the drug call-outs they respond to, WFXT reported.
