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I was almost trafficked in Los Angeles.

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So, I want to first start off by saying I am from Texas, not California, which makes this story even crazier to me.

A while back I was addicted to like hardcore substances that basically destroyed my life and my body and I was waking up in jail not knowing why I was there, overdosing in my car alone multiple times, like it was bad. So I decided one night that I had enough of my addiction and called a few rehabs to go to. A few of the rehabs in my direct city denied me because I went previously and walked out against medical advice just to go back to my addictions. But one rehab offered me a free plane ride to California as long as I stayed and got sober they would also pay for my plane ride back to Texas.

Knowing my situation, this immediately felt like a better idea than to find a rehab in my own city because I knew if I went to one in my own city I would most likely just walk out again and go back to the same lifestyle, but if I went to a whole different state I would have no choice but to follow through with the rehabilitation or else I would be homeless.

I decided to go and long story short I made a few bad decisions and freaked out and left the rehab and ended up homeless in a state that I was not even from with no money and nobody I knew that was close enough to help me. The first few nights I thought to myself I would be fine and I would figure something out, but then weeks passed, and my phone died, and I still was homeless. At this point I genuinely started to really worry about my situation.

I walked to a gas station and charged my phone and I started calling multiple different rehabs in the area begging them to let me come stay there explaining my situation without telling them that I left the previous one. A few of them denied me but there was one that answered and was immediately offering me a uber to the facility without even asking me a many questions. I felt relieved but something in the back of my mind was questioning this. The person on the phone gave off a very weird feeling and my intuition was telling me that I should not go to this rehab. But because of my dire circumstances I was literally desperate and just started crying over the phone because I was scared to be homeless even longer in Los Angeles. But I hung up and blocked their number and called more rehabs instead. Thankfully more answered and finally one offered me a uber again and it felt a lot safer in my intuition to go to this one instead. They bought me a uber and I went there, falling asleep on the car ride there because I hadn’t slept in days.

When I arrived and finished my intake and was taken to the house I was going to be staying at I met my roommate, who had just got there too. I noticed that he had a bloodied shirt and when he smiled at me a few of his teeth were missing and I thought to myself “man I thought I had it bad” and I asked him what happened. He told me that he had just escaped a rehab that he was at previously that was trying to take a life insurance policy out on him and kill him, and they beat and abused him, and they were trafficking other people. I asked him the name of the rehab and he told me and my heart sank.

It was the rehab I was about to go to out of desperation but decided against because of my intuition.

I am back in Texas now 4 years sober, hitting the gym, good job, a good car, and making good money and healthy choices. And I’m so thankful.

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