A mother has shared harrowing photos of herself on Facebook in a bid to get others to seek help for drug addiction.
Alongside the pictures, Melissa Lee Matos, of West Virginia, wrote that she felt moved to share the image because she had friends who needed to see them.
"It goes beyond what my words can accomplish," Matos wrote. "This is by far, the most raw thing I have shared with the world. Please read. Please share."
"This is what I looked like, daily, for years," she added, alongside photos of her with a scabbed face.
"This is what my husband dealt with. This is what my little girls walked in on. This is what my family and friends saw, on the rare occasions I left the house. I was SICK. I was DYING. I was so far gone I thought I could NEVER recover. I was so lost I couldn't imagine a life without using. I just wanted to die. I didn't realize I was hardly alive."
Credit: Facebook / Melissa Lee Matos
Credit: Facebook / Melissa Lee Matos
Credit: Facebook / Melissa Lee Matos
The images have been shared over 50,000 times at the time of writing.
Melissa says that has now been clean and in recovery for around a year and five months and her Facebook page lists her occupation as freelance writer and social advocate at Recover Me
"If you are currently in active addiction, this is my plea to you. Look at these pictures. Images of a dead girl. A needle junkie with a habit so fierce she spent days and nights in a self-induced coma on her bathroom floor," Matos wrote.
"A girl who would spend every cent on dope and forget she had kids to feed and take care of. A girl who lost every single thing she ever had. A girl who was so sick she thought she would never ever find a way out, until she did."
Credit: Facebook / Melissa Lee Matos
Credit: Facebook / Melissa Lee Matos
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It's great to see someone selflessly sharing something so personal about themselves in a bid to help others on the road to recovery.
Featured Image Credit: Facebook / Melissa Lee MatosTopics: Viral, Heroin, Facebook, Addiction