After spending 15 years in a downward spiral, Caroline Best was told at age 36 that if she didn’t give up heroin and crack cocaine, she’d be dead within a year. Best, who had been caught shoplifting in order to fund her drug addiction, was suffering from heart failure, SWNS reported.

But doctors refused to operate until she got sober.

MARYLAND REPORTS 5 'SEVERE' VAPING-LINKED LUNG ILLNESS CASES

With the help of a police chief from West Midlands, England, Best went to rehab, and is now celebrating a year sober and improved health. She no longer needs heart surgery, and is nearly unrecognizable in her mug shot from last year.

“I am living proof that we can recover,” Best told SWNS.

Best said thanks to officer Stuart Toogood, who is part of the Offender to Rehab Program at his police force, she is now a “productive member of society.”

PHOTOS OF DRUG USER'S HOME SHED LIGHT ON CHILDHOOD MARRED BY ADDICTION

Toogood said the program has successfully rehabilitated nine former criminals, and that there has been a “huge reduction of shop thefts.”

“We are certainly seeing a benefit in this new approach,” he told SWNS.

Best, who celebrated her 12-month sobriety date on Aug. 27, is currently living in a sober house.

In similar headlines, a couple in Tennessee recently went viral for sharing their sobriety story by posting a photo taken during the depths of their meth addiction alongside a current photo of them in recovery.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

Brent Walker had posted the photo of him and his wife Ashley as part of the “#CleanChallenge” and said the addiction photo was taken in late 2016, shortly after he was released from jail.

“This is my wife and I in active meth addiction[,] the first was taken around December 2016 and the second one was taken in July of 2019,” the now-30-year-old wrote in the July 26 post. “This December 31st will be 3 years we have been clean and sober and living for God. I hope that my transformation can encourage [an] addict somewhere! It is possible to recover!!”