Couple reveals what happened after 'humiliating' heroin overdose video went viral
A couple at the centre of a viral video that showed them pass out in the street from a heroin overdose have spoken out how the clip changed their lives for the better.
Ronald Hiers and his then wife, Carla, 61, were filmed on a pavement in Memphis, Tennessee, barely able to move after taking the drug in October 2016 but the pair have since turned their lives around thanks to the viral clip.
The clip, shared online by Courtland Garner via Facebook Live, shows Ronald bent over backwards, resting on a park bench with his legs and arms outstretched.
Carla can be seen kneeling on the pavement as she places her face against the floor while bystanders film their sorry state.
But despite their horrific condition just a year ago, the pair say the viral video has been a blessing in disguise and urged them to get the help they needed after several decades of drug addiction.
"When I’d seen Carla, that’s when my heart poured out for her because she was in a bad way," Ronald said in a new Time documentary.
"It really hurt, because she was in public and she was being publicly humiliated.”
The pair revealed they had been taking drugs since the age of 13 and were in and out of jail as they battled their addictions.
Ron's estranged daughter Paris Hardee eventually stepped in and called a drugs support charity, Turning Point, after seeing the video on the internet and Mr Hiers was taken into care.
Carla was put behind bars on the day of the video, but later managed to attend rehab the following month.
“I could have died on the side of that road very easily.. I wasn't ready to die, she said.
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“I’ve always felt like there was something better and there was.”
Despite the couple going their separate ways, they still keep in regular contact following their miraculous turnaround.
