West Virginia woman shares her journey to recovery from fentanyl

WHEELING, W.Va. ( WTRF ) – Fentanyl is one of the deadliest substances on the market. It is nearly 50 times stronger than heroin and 100 times stronger than morphine.

A local EMT spoke to 7News about the dangers of this drug, and one local woman, Clarissa Adkins, shared her experiences with fentanyl and her loss.

“So, I used fentanyl for the first time about two years ago. And from the first time that I tried it, everything just went downhill from there. That’s the only thing that I wanted. It took everything from me, or I gave up everything for it.”

Clarissa Adkins | Wheeling Resident

Adkins shared deeply personal details about her life with the hopes of raising awareness of the growing opioid crisis.

“I lost my older brother due to a fentanyl overdose, and it just completely consumed me.”

Clarissa Adkins | Wheeling Resident

Fentanyl is a prescription opioid often used in medical settings for pain control.

Ohio County EMS Paramedic Anthony McDaniel explains:

“It works very similar to morphine only it doesn’t have as much of an effect on the patient’s blood pressure and tends to treat their pain better than morphine.”

Anthony McDaniel | Paramedic, Ohio County EMS

Prescription fentanyl is a tightly controlled substance that is given to patients in micrograms based on their weight.

“People that may be using it on the streets where it’s mixed into something that they are using, they have absolutely no control over the amount that they’re receiving.”

Anthony McDaniel | Paramedic, Ohio County EMS

Illicitly manufactured fentanyl is extremely dangerous because it is not regulated, and even the tiniest amount can be deadly.

“Because it is a respiratory depressant, that’s what the risk is for people using on the streets. If they take too much of it, their respiratory drive will slowly decrease and could eventually stop without intervention.”

Anthony McDaniel | Paramedic, Ohio County EMS

Clarissa Adkins, the woman who so bravely shared her road to recovery with 7News, says the best advice she can give to those struggling with substance abuse is this:

“There is hope. That you can get help. It’s out there. That you’re strong enough, that you don’t need it, that whatever you’re feeling now, it will pass.”

Clarissa Adkins | Wheeling Resident

Adkins is originally from Clarksburg, West Virginia, but has found support, hope and a home here in the friendly city of Wheeling.

She has successfully graduated from the YWCA Wheeling’s Women Inspired in New Directions program twice.

Adkins says sobriety is a life-long journey, but a worthwhile one.

In fact, her previous criminal convictions were recently expunged, giving her a chance to truly take a new direction in her life.

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