It was a typical day in the hard working city of Lawrence, Massachusetts. People were rushing around, heading for work, taking kids to school.
People were shopping for bargains in one local Dollar Store when a young woman came in with her little girl. The woman walked through the aisles, wearing leggings and a jogging shirt. The baby girl was dressed in pink pajamas with a picture from “Frozen.”
As they moved through the store, the woman suddenly collapsed onto her back. She lay unconscious on the floor. The little girl, only two years old, rushed to her mother’s side.
The girl pulled on her mother’s hand, trying to get her to sit up. She sat down next to her Momma’s inert form. Heartbreakingly, she leaned forward to tap her mother’s face and chin, hoping to revive the woman who was supposed to be taking care of her.
In an act that many people, including this writer, find difficult to understand, passersby videotaped the sobbing child as she tried to bring her mother back. No one stepped in to comfort the terrified little girl.
Eventually paramedics arrived and after two doses of the anti-opiate medication Narcan, the woman woke up. Her life had been saved.
The video went viral, and the awful images of the terrified child and her overdosing mother were spread around the country.
If you haven't seen the video of the 36-yr old mom w/ baby OD'ing in the dollar store, grab tissues. https://t.co/S1wPGmXNSO #OpioidEpidemic
— Jason (@coolmcjazz) September 24, 2016
There are some serious questions raised by this video, and by this event. Who was this woman, and why would she act so irresponsibly with her daughter right there? Why would people make a video instead of stepping in to help? What will happen to the mother and her child?
The Mom’s name is Mandy McGowen and she is only 36 years old. She was courageous enough after the horrific images went viral to speak out about her struggles.
She admitted that she had been in a car with friends on the morning of her overdose, and had used fentanyl. When she realized that her friend had to drive to a neighboring city, and that she needed diapers for her daughter, she left the car and entered the store.
All of the rest is a blur to her.
“If I knew I was going to be like that I wouldn’t have my daughter with me. That’s not what I want her to see.”
That’s what we all seem to forget. No mother gets up in the morning and thinks it would be a good idea to get high and then overdose in front of her baby child. No mother plans to put her child through this kind of horror.
This epidemic is reaching every segment of our society.
The little girl has been placed in foster care, but her Momma desperately wants her back. Ms. McGowen placed herself in rehab after the incident in the store, but is unable to get the help she needs because she lacks the proper insurance.
Why did people make the video instead of comforting the child? Of that, I am not sure. Why did police and other emergency personnel make the video public?
Because they want other mothers and fathers to think before they use drugs. Because they want all of us to feel some empathy for those who struggle.
Perhaps they shared it because they want to see some action taken to end this terrible scourge.
What will happen to Mandy McGowen and her little girl?
That depends on what kind of treatment the mother can get, and whether or not she can overcome the pull of the drugs.
Featured image via YouTube Screengrab.
