A video of Ronald Hiers, 61, went viral in October 2016. The video uploaded to Facebook showed he and his wife overdosing on heroin
After video of Ronald Hiers and his wife overdosing on heroin went viral roughly one year ago, the former opioid addict began to get his life together.
On the one-year anniversary of his October 3, 2016 overdose, Hiers, 61, caught up with Inside Edition about how his life has changed.
He recounted his history with heroin, from his first bag he purchased at the age of 17 until his last in October of last year.
Hiers said he wrote out his own obituary by the time of the viral video and recalled: ‘I didn’t want to live anymore.’
The former addict would rob sailors from a Navy base near where he was living to fund his addiction.
He had been arrested more than 100 times.
He recounted how his estranged 35-year-old daughter from a previous marriage served as his ‘spiritual awakening’.
She saw the video and got him committed to a drug rehabilitation facility.
Hiers recounted to Inside Edition his history with heroin beginning from the age of 17. He is pictured with two babies
Video showing Hiers and his wife overdosing in Memphis, Tennessee went viral last year
Carla High, the wife of Hiers, is pictured overdosing. Bystanders laughed at the couple
Hiers said she spent five hours deciding whether to try to get help for him after she watched the video on her 35th birthday.
He ended up spending 39 days in a Mississippi rehab center and now spends his days attending Alcoholics Anonymous meetings and speaking with other people who are fighting addiction.
He said: ‘I owe it to these people…who say, “You’re such an inspiration to me.”‘
Bystanders laughed at Hiers and his wife, Carla High, as they fell unconscious in broad daylight in Memphis, Tennessee last year while overdosing on heroin.
It shows the husband and wife writhing on the floor after snorting the drug in the bathroom of a nearby Walgreens – while the crowd formed around them stands back and does nothing.
Paramedics eventually arrived on the scene and revived them.
Hiers currently counsels other people fighting addition. He told Inside Edition: ‘I owe it to these people…who say, “You’re such an inspiration to me”‘
Video of the incident was posted to Facebook Live by Courtland Garner.
Garner posted on Facebook: ‘They out here f***ed up.’
He told the local WREG news: ‘What they were doing was children’s things. It was a spectacle. It made me laugh. They can’t help themselves.’
Although he is laughing on the film, he said there was a serious point and he believed it would help to discourage some youngsters from using drugs.
‘I know for a fact all the kids are on social media, and when kids see that video, you know what they are going to say? I don’t want to look stupid like that I don’t want to do those drugs,’ he said.
‘I’m a human being,’ Hiers previously told Fox 8. He became visibly upset after watching the mocking responses from the crowd after seeing the footage. ‘That’s what so many people missed about it.’
‘I am a son. A husband. A brother. A grandfather. A father,’ he told Fox 8, adding that he had no recollection of his actions on that day.
If you or your loved one is struggling form addiction, call Turning Point Recovery 24/7 hotline 888-512-3321.
You can also read about the center at Turningpointtreatment.org.