Aidan Radnedge - 25th February, 2010 Share|
Schoolgirl Hannah Meredith's Dear Heroin letter days before drugs OD
Schoolgirl Hannah Meredith died from a heroin overdose just three weeks after writing an emotional 'Dear Heroin' letter celebrating her apparent triumph over addiction.
Hannah Meredith relapsed and was found dead aged just 17, three years after her first taste of hard drugs.
Now her distraught parents have released the poignant ‘Dear Heroin’ letter in which she confronted the demon that ravaged her life.
They hope to shock other youngsters into avoiding heroin – and make anti-drug agencies give better help to struggling teenage addicts.
In her letter, Hannah, from the Welsh town of Llanelli, said she stole from her family to pay for her habit, leading to run-ins with police.
After briefly managing to give up the drug, she wrote: ‘Dear Heroin, I never want to touch you ever again - you’ve ruined my life.’
The note – quoted in part on the left – described the misery of ‘cold turkey’ and ‘clucking’, as well as the shame of ‘pin holes’ and ‘track marks’ in her arms. The teenager, who was given her first ecstasy tablet on her 14th birthday and a year later was using heroin, said she was lucky the drug had not ‘put me in a box’.
Yet three weeks later, she was found dead in her bed from an overdose of heroin, temazepam and diazepam.
Her mother, Louise, 43, recalled breaking down in tears when Hannah read her the letter for the first time.
‘She was so proud of it, and I was so proud of her for writing it,’ Mrs Meredith said. ‘I just hope it can help someone else now.’
The family has set up the Hannah Meredith Foundation, hoping to provide a ‘one-stop shop’ offering families help and advice. They also plan to publish her letter in an anti-drugs booklet for schools and youth centres.
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