- They rushed me to the hospital.

On the way to the hospital, myheart stopped for 10 minutes.

And then they put me ina medically-induced coma.

- [Narrator] It was astring of bad choices

that put Dina Cafiso ina fight for her life.

In a search for love and acceptance,

Dina had turned to drugsto help numb the pain

of childhood abuse,memories that haunted her

for as long as she could remember.

- I grew up in completefear in my own house.

- [Narrator] The abuse,physical and verbal,

had come from a close familymember who was mentally ill.

It was the worst of hisabuse she remembered most.

- He barged in and actuallybroke the lock on my door.

And then he grabbed me by the hair

and he smashed my headon this bench in my room.

And I have a permanentbump on my head from that.

And so there was this constant pressure

of needing to survive.

- [Narrator] Dina says familymembers knew about the abuse,

but did nothing to stop it.

- That not only made me feel unsafe

but it also caused me to actually

have a strong hate towards these people

who were supposed toprotect me but didn't.

- [Narrator] By the timeshe was nine years old,

Dina was experiencinganxiety and depression.

At 15, she made thedecision to follow Christ.

- I heard my youth pastor's testimony

of how he had come out ofa life of drugs and gangs

and all this stuff.

And I remember thinking like, wow,

like if the Lord can do that for him

then what could He do for me?

- [Narrator] But when the abuse continued,

- I thought I wasn't worthyto be loved by anybody.

And that even translatedinto how I saw God,

that He loved everybody else

but He definitely didn't love me

because of the people whowere supposed to love me,

didn't love me.

- [Narrator] Soon, Dinaturned away from God

and started lookingfor love and acceptance

through alcohol, sex, weed,and prescription drugs.

She also started hurting herself.

- It was like an emotionalrelease was happening

that I could only get frominflicting the physical pain.

- [Narrator] Still, Dinawanted a better life.

And after high school, sheenrolled in a community college

and got a job at a clothing store,

but it was short-lived.

She started dating aguy who gave her drugs

but more importantly,filled her need to be loved.

When her boyfriend broke upwith her, she became suicidal.

- Everything that I gave myself to, again,

just kind of disappeared andvanished and abandoned me

and that I had nothing left to live for.

- [Narrator] At 21, Dina checkedherself into a psych ward

where she was diagnosed withseveral emotional disorders

and anxiety.

- And I felt more worthless

than I ever have in my entire life.

- [Narrator] After herrelease, a week later,

Dina went back to abusing pain pills

that would lead her intoa two year addiction

that now included cocaine.

Still, she knew she needed help

and went into a detox programthat briefly got her clean

but it did nothing to help her deal

with the turmoil in her heart and mind.

- I cried out to God and again,I said, God, if you love me

then can you rescue me out of this?

If you love me, then help me.

I need your help.

- [Narrator] Four daysafter getting out of detox,

she decided to do somethingshe had never done before

and shot up with heroin.

That was the last thing she remembers.

- I just saw all likethe IVs hooked up to me

and the tube in my throat.

And I couldn't even move my left hand.

It was stuck shut

because I had severenerve damage in my arm.

- [Narrator] Dina learned she almost died

from a drug overdose

and had been in amedically-induced coma for a week.

If not for a family memberfinding her in time to call 911

she would have died.

- When I finally realizedwhat I had done to myself,

I knew two things:

that I needed to change or I was gonna die

addicted to drugs.

And the second thing was, wow,

the Lord must really loveme in order to have saved me

when I overdosed.

- [Narrator] Soon after, Dinarededicated her life to God.

- And I asked God to forgive me

and took full responsibilityfor the things that I had done

that were sinful and not pleasing.

I released everyone inmy family who had hurt me

and neglected me and I forgave them

and such freedom came from that,

that I don't hold anything against them.

- [Narrator] Today, Dinaserves on the worship team

at her church.

She's also a full-time seminary student.

She says she never ceases to be amazed

at what God has done in her life.

- No matter what we face,

no matter how impossible our situations

and circumstances may feel,

no matter how deep you are,

you are never too farout of the reach of God.

And He is more than willingto go down the deepest pit

to rescue His people who He loves.