- It's dehumanizing.

It's out of this world

almost to where I didn't feellike I was even a person,

and the only thing that makes you able

to even live with yourself a little bit

is the same exact thingthat's killing you.

- [Narrator] For 10 years,getting her next fix

ruled Shay Walters' life,

driven by the pain ofabandonment and betrayal

and no hope for a future.

- I knew everything in me thatI would die a drug addict.

- [Narrator] Growing up, Shay was popular,

a good student and athletewho had loving parents

and thought the world of her dad.

- My father made mefeel confident and able

and intelligent andindependent and strong.

- [Narrator] In the coming years,

he also showed Shay a way oflife that almost destroyed her.

It started when Shaywas in the seventh grade

and a team of sheriff's deputiesraided her family's home

looking for drugs.

They found nothing,

and her parents convinced Shayit must have been a mistake.

At school, however, theaccusations and ridicule

began to spread.

Defending her dad's reputation,

Shay began attackinganyone who crossed her.

At 13, she got her firstcriminal assault charge.

- I wanted to be tough andI wanted people to think

that they couldn't hurt me

so I started to physically fight people

if they said something to me.

I'd get violent.

- [Narrator] Insidethough, she was hurting.

Then, during her freshmanyear in high school,

her dad was arrested forpossession and selling drugs.

Now she knew the accusations were true.

Although it was only an 11-month sentence,

Shay's world was shattered.

- It was almost like a death.

It was like grieving your father,

even though he was only away temporarily.

But for a young girl,that's shocking, you know,

and we were definitely usedto having this family dynamic,

and in the blink of aneye, it had changed.

- [Narrator] At one point,she even attempted suicide.

- I was trying to escape the sadness

that my family had crumbled

and I didn't necessarilybelong anywhere anymore.

- [Narrator] Trying to find her place,

she started drinking, smokingweed, and popping pills.

Then at 17, she got pregnantand had a son, Tice.

She would soon leave herboyfriend, Tice's father,

because he'd become abusive.

However, a bigger problem quickly surfaced

when Shay discovered thepain meds she was given

after her C-section alsosoothed her emotional pain.

Within two years,

she had gone from an addictionto opiates to heroin.

- I didn't have to thinkabout what I was doing.

I didn't have to feel guiltyand it completely numbed me.

- [Narrator] By her early twenties,

she was selling drugsand in and out of jail

on multiple DUI and assault charges.

- It became a normal way of life for me

to be thrown in and out of jail,

and I didn't think that people got sober.

- [Narrator] By the time Shay was 25,

she had survived numerous overdoses

and multiple suicide attempts.

She had also lost custody of her son

to her mother and older sister.

- I felt like I didn't have any reason

to even be here on this earth.

It didn't empower me or wake me up,

as in I need to get sober.

I need to get better.

I need to get better for my son.

It just, I had no hope.

- [Narrator] In October of 2015,

Shay was arrested onnine felony drug charges

and facing 22 years.

- And I remember thinkingthat my life is over,

that this is not onethat I can come back from

and this is how I'm gonna spend

the next 20 years of my life.

- [Narrator] In jail, awaiting sentencing,

Shay began attending AA meetings.

She also met a girl shehad used drugs with before

who was now sober andhad met someone special.

His name was Jesus.

- And she helps me say a prayer

that's basically sayingthy will not mine be done.

I give my life over to you,whatever you need from me.

And I prayed it with her.

And I gave my life to God.

My freedom from drugs was instantaneous.

The moment that I asked God into my heart

on that jail cell floor,

the want to even do themcompletely subsided.

I've never used a drug since.

I don't want to use.

I have joy and happiness without them.

- [Narrator] And repentingof everything she'd done,

she says she also found God's forgiveness

and unconditional love.

- I don't have that holein me craving attention

and love from the world.

I only get it from God.

I know where my joy comes from.

I know where my identity comes from.

I know who I am.

- [Narrator] After serving only two years,

Shay was released and wenton to find success in life.

She regained full custody of her son.

She is now married to Rich

and raising a blended family.

Together they run a licensedbehavioral health center

called Peer Solutionswhere they help people

who struggle with addiction.

Shay also ministers to morethan half a million people

on her Facebook show called"From Prison to Purpose."

She lets everyone know Godis a God of second chances.

- Everything that I wentthrough was for His glory.

There is hope and people do recover.

People change their lives.

God can bless you.

Whatever it is that you dreamabout your life right now,

He can times that by a million.