Journey to recovery: The bond between a mother and daughter in the fight against opioids

Hope Over Heroin: One survivor's story

Consumed by heroin, she's lived life at rock bottom. Through detoxes...and relapses, a journey of heartache, hope, and recovery. Addicted...a survivor's story. Monday at 11: http://bit.ly/2orPG6O

Posted by WSYX ABC 6 on Monday, February 26, 2018

(WSYX/WTTE)

by Maria Durant, ABC 6 Columbus
The number is staggering. According to a new Pew Survey, nearly half of us knows someone who has been addicted to prescription drugs.

But who are these addicts?

By looking at her now, you could never tell the pain that Bianca Dinovo has endured. From her journal, in her own words, Bianca reads what she wrote more than 5 years ago.

"My son walked into the kitchen and was crying trying to get me to stop. He said mommy, don't. By then I grabbed a set of butcher knives on the counter."

It wasn't the first time she tried to kill herself. But Dinovo wasn't always hooked on drugs or heroin.

She grew up in Bellefontaine. Her mother, Robin Burton said she was your typical teenager.

"Just an all American girl, " she said.

But when Dinovo moved away on her own, she found herself mixed up in a lifestyle of partying and pills.

"I tried pretty much everything, " she said.

"I used heroin. I snorted it, I smoked it and finally, I shot it up."

She hid her addiction for 10 years, always thinking she had it under control, but her mother knew. When Dinovo moved back to Ohio, mom was there by her side to fight back against the addiction.

"Addiction attacks everything, every single part of who they are," said Burton.

There were detoxes and relapses, but Burton would not give up on her daughter.

" I never forgot the person inside, who I knew she was, " said Burton.

Now, four years clean, their relationship is stronger than ever. They are sharing their story to let people know there is life after addiction.

"It's amazing how things can change and you can get better. you can. I'm living proof," said Dinovo with a smile.