Editor's Note: Today, The Courier-Journal begins a three-part series on the growing scourge of heroin in our community, with a look at its devastating effects on children. Next Sunday, we will examine the threat of infectious disease from rampant intravenous drug use; and the following Sunday, we will share the stories of families seeking solace and support as they struggle with the aftermath of addiction.
Miguel Diego spent his first years in heroin’s hell.
His mom shot up in front of him. He was in a car with her when her brother sped the wrong way down a one-way street after being punched in the face by a heroin dealer.
Kymbal Pruett tries hold four-year-old son Miguel Diego's hand while she carries her newborn daughter Elisabeth in their room at the Freedom House in April. Pruett is a former heroin addict. In Miguel's short life so far, he's witnessed his mother shooting heroin and fending for himself while she looked for the drug.
(Photo: Matt Stone/The Courier-Journal)
And he was there when an overdose left his mom, Kymbal Pruett, unconscious and nearly dead, with another addict pleading as she came to, “You got to get up. You got to take care of Miguel.”
The vivacious, brown-haired 4-year-old is among the youngest victims of a drug epidemic gripping Kentucky, Indiana and the nation and striking at the very essence of childhood. Heroin tears parents from children, erases stability and steals innocence, joy and any sense of safety. Instead of getting the love and attention they need to grow, children of heroin become secondary to the addict’s endless quest for the next high.
[For more of this story, written by Laura Ungar, go to http://www.courier-journal.com...ation-kids/82434922/]
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