Editor’s Note: Morgan is student at The University of Akron and a 2013 graduate of Stow-Munroe Falls High School. Her boyfriend, Jordan, overdosed and died from heroin in July. This is her story.

When people ask me what it was like to live with heroin, I say it was like living with my best friend’s evil twin.

My boyfriend and I took the step to move in with each other this year in January. I realized he had a problem after we graduated high school in 2013.

He never did heroin in front of me, so I was pretty clueless when he did it. At this point in my life, I didn’t know much about addiction or heroin. He got help for his problem and went to rehab at the Interval Brotherhood Home. After he completed rehab, he stayed sober for over a year and a half.

After rehab, he was doing so well that I would never have imagined him relapsing.

I knew he relapsed from heroin because he was constantly lying to me about every little thing he was doing. I realized he started using again because I saw a track mark on his hand. He told me this really absurd story that there was no way it could have been true.

I started to see some of his nicer things disappear and he started acting differently. Soon, it got to the point where I couldn’t even leave him alone because I was too scared that he was going to die.

He would use heroin when he knew I was going to be gone for just a few minutes. It got to the point where I couldn’t even shower without fearing him passing away. He overdosed multiple times and each time I was there to save him. A paramedic told me I had to be his guardian angel because of how many times he has overdosed.

My boyfriend passed away July 21, 2016. We had been dating for five years and had such a good relationship. He wasn’t only my boyfriend, but he was my best friend. I cannot explain how thankful I am to have him as a part of me.

This has been the hardest thing I have ever gone through in my whole entire life. It makes me so upset that heroin is the thing that took his life.

Ever since my boyfriend’s death, my heart constantly hurts. It hurts because I lost my best friend, it hurts for the people who are using and it hurts for all of the families who are losing their loved ones. People don’t realize this could happen to anyone. These are precious lives we are losing to this evil drug.