The Transformation of Jessica Fernandes
Today is Tuesday, which means it's Transformation Tuesday: a day when we come together to share stories of transformation within our community.
Today, we have the inspiring story of Jessica Fernandes ✨
THE TRANSFORMATION:
My name is Jessica Fernandes and I am 23 years old. I came to New Brunswick from Ontario. It was in March of 2020 when the COVID pandemic broke out when I realized that things were quickly spinning out of control. Few years before then, I thought everything was okay. I was having fun at parties, had lots of friends (what I thought were friends), I was happy. I met some not so good people at parties, and I started abusing uppers and pills. I started selling my body so I would have money to buy them, and I had a very bad sex addiction. I started to get really depressed, and I was not getting barely any sleep. I ended up meeting someone, my best friend's uncle, and he introduced me to fentanyl. I overdosed the first time I tried it, and almost didn’t make it, but I kept on doing it after that incident. It became something I did everyday, I depended on it to live, and I couldn’t function as a human being. I was not coherent at this point, I would be passing out, not knowing where I woke up, which unfortunately caused me to be sexually assaulted by my friend's uncle. After that is when things spiraled for me.
In March 2023, I knew I needed help and that I couldn’t do this on my own. Things kept getting worse for me and I could have ended up in jail or dead. In April 2023, I started going to Narcotics Anonymous groups, and I met a guy there and I thought the group would help me. It did for a bit but then I was having bad triggers and I fell into those cravings. I overdosed in an alleyway, I was out for about 5 minutes, had cruises on my chest from the CPR, and the paramedics almost didn’t find me. I had a near death experience. I could feel my heart slowly not working, I couldn’t breathe. The paramedics came, and the first thing I said to them was “please save me” but I believe I was actually talking to God when I said that. I knew after that that I needed rehab ASAP. It was difficult coming off of fentanyl cold-turkey, no methadone, just me battling against my thoughts. 2 months went by and I knew I was ready, so I called Naomi and Ruth, and they accepted me the next day. I booked my flight to New Brunswick that night.
I was excited, I had that feeling to try new things, and knowing that it was a faith-based program made me feel a lot better. I knew I was going to make it. The first 2 weeks, I accepted the Lord as my Savior and the Lord has blessed me beyond measures surrendering my all to Him. I came to Naomi & Ruth June 1st, I just went on my 8 months. I will be graduating in 4 months. ShekinahGO, where we have our 12-Step Program, they invited me to be part of the women’s Sober Living House. I have so much more freedom as well as more responsibilities, and I feel so blessed to be at this house with many wonderful women.
ShekinahGO helped me get back on my feet in many ways, but a few of them are learning to cook for multiple people, having the freedom to go to the gym or hang out with friends, and being in a leadership position that I have been working towards for a while now.
Thank you Lord for these many blessings, and I will continue to honour you and praise you.
~ be sure to leave some encouragement in the comments below for Jessica 🥰
#TransformationTuesday #recoveryispossible #recovery #recoveryjourney