LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – Addiction touches many lives all across the country. Here at home, two women are now sharing their recovery story through the social media platform TikTok, and it has reached millions.
Step by step, and hand in hand, both Marybeth Hill and Mikaila Wingfield are sharing their story of addiction recovery through social media.
“I was just released from prison and I was stuck at the halfway house and there was nothing to do and so we just started Tik Toking,” one woman walking through recovery and Natural State employee Marybeth Hill said.
“I honestly just got on TikTok to scroll and have a good belly laugh,” another woman walking through recovery and Natural State employee Mikaila Wingfield said.
Marybeth Hill said she became addicted to drugs at the age of 15, “that continued for years and years and years and in 2017 I was indicted on drug trafficking charges,” said Hill.
On TikTok one of her first posts was the moment she was released from prison and got to reunite with her children, reaching those all over the world and receiving more than 850,000 views.
“The outpour that I received from that community was crazy, the love and the encouragement and so from that point forward it was like I knew I wanted to use this platform to share my life,” stated Hill.
Like Marybeth, Mikaila Wingfield started sharing her journey with addiction.
She said she was born with crack in her system, the exact drug she was using before getting clean.
“Marijuana led to pain pills, Xanax, and then that led to Roxy ’30s and then heroin and then fentanyl, to IVU’s and then crack cocaine,” said Wingfield.
She said she has overdosed 13 times, but she was court-ordered to recovery, she never looked back.
She has received more than 13 million views on some of her TikToks.
“I didn’t think it would blow up like this but I was very excited,” stated Wingfield.
While they work full-time at a recovery center here in Arkansas, they said they will continue to use TikTok to help reach those who need it.
“If I can be one voice to break the stigma, I’m going to do it,” Wingfield said.
“If it just helps one person, that’s my ultimate goal right, if there is one person that’s out there that’s still sick and suffering that sees these videos and says I can do this too, that makes it all worth it,” Hill said.
To learn more, visit NaturalStateRecovery.com.
