JEFFERSONVILLE, Ind. (WHAS11) -- Marilyn Greenwell likes to remember her daughter, Brittney, for how she lived.
"She was the most perfect little girl with the gorgeous little blonde curls and blue eyes," Greenwell said.
Greenwell said Brittney would have become an EMT, a mother and a wife. But an accident sent Brittney, Greenwell's only child, down a road of addiction that she and many other families did not expect.
"They might think that's never going to happen to me," she said. "I thought that. My daughter thought that."
Greenwell said her daughter first started using legally prescribed painkillers, but after the prescriptions stopped, she said her daughter then turned to the street to fuel her addiction.
Brittney died from a heroin overdose on May 14, 2016.
"That was the hardest day of my life," she said. "It was a day I would never want anyone else to live through."
But it was that day that sent Greenwell on a road of her own. After meeting a few other mothers who had also suffered the pains of losing loved ones to addiction, she realized there were many others out there.
"I just didn't want it to stop there," she said. "I didn't want to see another mom or father or grandparent lose their babies. I can't fathom it."
Greenwell organized the support group I Am Affected to offer a safe space for families and friends of loved ones who are fighting or have fought drug abuse. Last September, Greenwell also organized the first Lights of Hope event in Jeffersonville along the Ohio River, part of an international movement by The Addict's Mom to shine a light on the tragedy of addiction.
Dozens of people showed up to Duffy's Landing last year - Greenwell estimates there to have been more than 50 - from people who have lost loved ones to overdose or incarceration to those still struggling with addiction and those on the never-ending journey of recovery.
Lights of Hope 2018
"Just being at the Lights of Hope event was just so freeing, I mean to be there and to listen to the hopeful stories of recovery," Kari Thom Carter, whose daughter's addiction landed her in jail, said.
For Thom Carter, knowing there are so many others sharing in the struggle helps erase the shame that many loved ones of people addicted to drugs feel.
"I'm not ashamed. I love my daughter," she said. "I'm proud of my daughter and I love her where she's at, and I think that's what we're all called to do and be there for each other."
The second Lights of Hope in Jeffersonville will be held September 14 from 7 to 9 p.m. at Duffy's Landing under the gazebo. A local sponsor will be providing the first 50 participants with candle lanterns that will float on the Ohio River in honor of loved ones who have dealt with addiction.
For more information, contact Marilyn Greenwell at 812-989-8814 or visit the Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/events/370212427223610/.
Contact reporter Dennis Ting at dting@whas11.com. Follow him on Twitter (@DennisJTing) and Facebook.
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