True Story: Telisha Lockwood

Written by Telisha Lockwood

My name is Telisha Lockwood. I am 30 years old from Fairmont, West Virginia. I grew up in a pretty normal household; my step dad was a preacher and raised me my whole life, along with my mother and two younger siblings.

I was on homecoming court and prom court, was a varsity cheerleader, on the track team, swim team, and dance team. I started using alcohol and drugs around the age of 14. It started with partying with my peers from school mainly with alcohol and marijuana. I noticed that my partying started exceeding my friends partying. My grades dropped tremendously. I started becoming violent and rebellious. I got pregnant at the age of 17 right before I graduated high school, which caused me to give up my goal of college, or so I thought.

I took my daughter and moved out of my parent’s house to live with my daughter’s father. We got hooked on pills, Percocet to be exact. We searched for, bought, snorted, injected, stole for, and made our whole lives evolve around pills. I got pregnant again after three years and had my second daughter. I was still hooked on pills and partying whether my kids were with me or not. I had also ended up doing a lot of cocaine, ecstasy, and Xanax too.

I got arrested in 2012 for stealing checks, forging and cashing them. Jail wasn't enough to make me stop, nor was probation or the day report center. I ended up in Huntington, West Virginia in a long-term treatment facility. After six months, I relapsed and got hooked on heroin and ended back in jail. My probation was revoked. I ended up giving custody of my daughters to my parents and continued to use heroin by injection for a while. I was in and out of treatment centers.

I eventually stayed clean for almost three years, had a full time job, got engaged, and a home and relapsed and lost it all again and stayed high for about another year. I got pregnant and stayed clean and I still remain clean as you read this today, I have a three-month-old daughter, I am married now, have a job in recovery, and get to be a mom to my daughters, that my parents have custody of.

I did none of this on my own, I give all credit to God and to people who loved me when I couldn't love myself. If it were up to me, I would probably be dead right now, but because of recovery and peer support, I get to be alive and have purpose today!