© 2025 Public Radio East
Public Radio For Eastern North Carolina 89.3 WTEB New Bern 88.5 WZNB New Bern 91.5 WBJD Atlantic Beach 90.3 WKNS Kinston 89.9 W210CF Greenville
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations
89.3 WTEB operating at reduced power
US

Former Heroin Addict Helps Users Get Treatment

At one time, Thea Oliphant-Wells was a client at the needle exchange program. Today, she's a social worker connecting people to services they need to find their way out of addiction.
(KUOW photo/Ruby de Luna)
At one time, Thea Oliphant-Wells was a client at the needle exchange program. Today, she's a social worker connecting people to services they need to find their way out of addiction. (KUOW photo/Ruby de Luna)

For the first time in a decade, the U.S. death rate is up across the entire population. Researchers at the National Center for Health Statistics say the increase was driven in part by more people dying from drug overdoses.

One Seattle woman could have been among that statistic. She was homeless and addicted to heroin. Today, she’s no longer using, but helps those who are. From Here & Now contributor KUOW in Seattle, Ruby de Luna reports.

Reporter

Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

US