Heroin addiction is a horrific condition that affects millions of people all around the globe. For most people, it is also a death sentence, but a young woman was able to beat the odds to turn her life around after becoming addicted to heroin in such a bad way that she was told she only had one year to live.

Caroline Best was 36 years-old when doctors informed her that her heroin addiction had left her with one year to live. She had been peer pressured to try heroin when she was a teenager, and from there, Caroline’s addiction quickly spiraled. The next twenty years are a complete blur for Caroline, who was going to increasingly extreme lengths to obtain the drug that had come to control her life.

Caroline’s friends and family eventually cut her out of their lives, at which time she turned to petty theft to feed her habit. She quickly found herself going in and out of prison. It was during her final discharge from prison that a doctor gave Caroline the news that she only had one year to live because of the damage she had done to her body. Doctors discovered that Caroline had sepsis, which had reached her heart valve, giving her endocarditis.

Caroline needed a risky operation to survive, but no hospital would perform the surgery until there no drugs in her system. At first, Caroline had no hope of making this happen, so she resigned herself to the fact that her addiction would indeed kill her. However, when she was released from prison on this occasion, she was stunned to see her arresting officer Stuart Toogood waiting for her at the gates.

Stuart told her that he had come there because he could see that she was suffering and he did not want to see her throw her life away. He told Caroline that he knew of an incredibly effective six-month-long rehabilitation program in the area, and he agreed to bring her there himself. Later that day, Caroline was officially signed in for rehab.

Stuart came to visit her every few days, which meant the world to Caroline. Everyone else in her life had given up on her, but now this police officer was invested in seeing her complete rehab and turn her life around.

When the six-month rehab stint was over, Caroline went right to the hospital, where doctors could see that she was clean. They then gave her amazing news: she no longer needed the surgery, because her body had repaired itself!

Caroline now looks totally different, and she has devoted her life to helping others beat heroin addition.

Caroline’s story serves as a reminder that it’s never too late to turn your life around.