Shelby Wahl is one year sober from drugs after her seventh trip to the Clay County jail last year.Wahl shared her story with KMBC 9 Investigates to warn others about the dangers of the drug fentanyl.“I hit rock bottom and I hit it hard,” she said.Wahl on April 15 of last year sat inside jail coming off a fentanyl high.“I do not think I would be sober today if it wasn’t for going to jail,” she said.She says the dangerous and deadly drug became her addiction after getting hooked first on pain pills, then heroin.“To be honest, we didn’t know what we were getting until we cooked it up in the spoon,” she said.Wahl said she nearly died five times. Every time someone used the drug Narcan to reverse her overdoses.“I’m grateful to be alive today,” she said.Wahl overdosed even on the morning she landed in jail.“I am so proud of her,” said Clay County Drug Task Force Sergeant Gary Blackwell. “I can’t tell you how proud I am of her.Blackwell saw Wahl at her lowest.“She had some serious obstacles to overcome legally, medically, had some serious obstacles overcome and she did it,” he said.Both Blackwell and Wahl have spent the past few months talking to parents and kids at drug summits sponsored by the Clay County Sheriff’s office around Northland about the dangers of fentanyl.“When you get a drug, you’re more afraid of the withdrawal than you are dying,” Blackwell said. “That’s pretty dangerous.”Wahl, meanwhile, wants to use what happened to her to help others.“Maybe sharing my story will let people know that there’s a way out,” Wahl said. The Clay County Sheriff’s Office said they’ve seen a major increase in drug overdoses in the last two years. Earlier this year Oak Park High School student Ethan Everly took a pill not knowing it was laced with fentanyl, and died. Officials with the sheriff’s office want parents to talk with their kids about the dangers of drug use. They also want parents to know the signs of fake prescription pill drug use that could be found in a teen’s bedroom. Join KMBC 9 News Wednesday at 6 p.m. and walk through what you should be looking for to possibly save a teen’s life.
Shelby Wahl is one year sober from drugs after her seventh trip to the Clay County jail last year.
Wahl shared her story with KMBC 9 Investigates to warn others about the dangers of the drug fentanyl.
“I hit rock bottom and I hit it hard,” she said.
Wahl on April 15 of last year sat inside jail coming off a fentanyl high.
“I do not think I would be sober today if it wasn’t for going to jail,” she said.
She says the dangerous and deadly drug became her addiction after getting hooked first on pain pills, then heroin.
“To be honest, we didn’t know what we were getting until we cooked it up in the spoon,” she said.
Wahl said she nearly died five times. Every time someone used the drug Narcan to reverse her overdoses.
“I’m grateful to be alive today,” she said.
[To learn more about the DEA’s One Pill Can Kill Initiative, click here.]
Wahl overdosed even on the morning she landed in jail.
“I am so proud of her,” said Clay County Drug Task Force Sergeant Gary Blackwell. “I can’t tell you how proud I am of her.
Blackwell saw Wahl at her lowest.
“She had some serious obstacles to overcome legally, medically, had some serious obstacles overcome and she did it,” he said.
Both Blackwell and Wahl have spent the past few months talking to parents and kids at drug summits sponsored by the Clay County Sheriff’s office around Northland about the dangers of fentanyl.
“When you get a drug, you’re more afraid of the withdrawal than you are dying,” Blackwell said. “That’s pretty dangerous.”
Wahl, meanwhile, wants to use what happened to her to help others.
“Maybe sharing my story will let people know that there’s a way out,” Wahl said.
The Clay County Sheriff’s Office said they’ve seen a major increase in drug overdoses in the last two years. Earlier this year Oak Park High School student Ethan Everly took a pill not knowing it was laced with fentanyl, and died.
Officials with the sheriff’s office want parents to talk with their kids about the dangers of drug use.
They also want parents to know the signs of fake prescription pill drug use that could be found in a teen’s bedroom. Join KMBC 9 News Wednesday at 6 p.m. and walk through what you should be looking for to possibly save a teen’s life.
