PASCO COUNTY, Fla — Rachael Keegan says childhood trauma led her to addiction.
And along the way, she says she abused every kind of drug, from opioids to meth.
“At a certain point, it turned into, I just threw all these substances in me trying to take myself out. Like I honestly didn’t care if I died,” Keegan said.
Keegan says her worst moment is what finally led her to get clean.
“I burned my life completely to the ground. I ended up in a rock bottom moment where it was pretty traumatic. I had a situation where I was drugged. I believe I was raped and I woke up under a garbage pile,” she said.
But Rachael now says she’s been sober for four years and councils as a part of The Hope Shot.
It’s a recovery community organization focused on helping people in Pasco County.
“I’m so passionate that I found my way free. It became really important to me to carry that message to as many people as possible and help as many people as I can,” Keegan said.
The Hope Shot was one of many organizations at The Strengthening Our Community Conference.
An event put on by Pasco’s Alliance For Substance Abuse Prevention.
Former NBA and reality TV star Lamar Odom told the group his story of addiction and the overdose that almost killed him.
He says opening up to others has kept him off drugs since 2015, when he ended up in a coma.
“Helps my sobriety. So anything that helps with my sobriety, I’m totally for it,” said Odom.
There are dozens of stories of addiction here, and with the help of people like Rachael, more and more of those stories turn into recovery.
“I’ve experienced spiritual highs that you can never get in a baggie, in a bottle. Even when it feels like all hope is lost if you just hold on a little bit longer and just hold on to that little bit of hope, miracles can happen,” said Keegan.
A state report says hundreds of frail elderly nursing home residents were stacked side by side, head to toe in a small church with no working air conditioning or refrigerator during Hurricane Helene.
