Cheerleader, 20, dies from heroin overdose after crash sparks painkiller addiction
A young cheerleader has died from a heroin overdose after she became hooked on painkillers following a car accident.
Samantha Huntley, 20, from Missouri, had endured a four year battle with addiction after being subscribed hydrocodone following a car crash that broke her back.
Despite trying to get help at numerous rehab centres for her problem, her insurance policy didn't cover stays beyond 30 days and ultimately she was forced to leave.
Samantha's hydrocodone addiction began in 2013 and soon became out of control, before moving onto heroin to treat not only her pain but also anxiety, depression and PTSD that she was experiencing following her car accident.
Her mother Julieann Gideon has been left distraught over her death and revealed her horror of when she found out about her daughter's addiction that led to her tragic death.
"I knew something was going on. She just didn't want me to see. She was ashamed," Julieann told Mail Online.
After endless failed visits to clinics in a bid to curtail her addiction, her mother made the devastating discovery of her daughter lying lifeless in her bed on September 3.
Samantha had overdosed on heroin at their home about 1.30am. Julieann found her three hours later.
"I was in shock for the first three weeks, and then denial. Still, everyday I'm like: "Is this real?"" Julieann said.
Julieann now wants to use her daughter's case to bring awareness to young people suffering from heroin addiction and wants to make treatments more widely available for young adults her daughter's age.
"It can happen to anybody. We need to fight for longer treatment," Julieann said.
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Australia currently has the second highest rate of prescription drug addiction in the world only after America, according to the World Drug Report.
One-and-a-half per cent of Australians aged between 12 and 17 have tried heroin while the average age of introduction to the drug is 22, according to the 2016 National Drug Strategy Household Survey.
