'Seven Days of Heroin': What happened next

Enquirer staff | Cincinnati Enquirer

After "Seven Days of Heroin" published, the story of the opioid epidemic in our region continued.

Day after day after day.

That is especially the case for some of the mothers and children, grandparents and grandchildren who we met during that week of reporting for the Pulitzer Prize-winning project.

Heroin addiction: Why we took on this 7-day project

These families also continued to share their stories of love and loss and hope with us.

That included Kim Hill and Lizzie Hamblin, two mothers whose sons both battled heroin addiction. Hill's son, Tommy, died that week. And Hamblin's son, Scotty, went missing.

This son went missing in July during "Seven Days of Heroin." Now, he's found. In The Enquirer's special report, "Seven Days of Heroin," we followed Lizzie Hamblin whose son, Scotty, went missing. Scotty agreed to talk to us from the Campbell County Detention Center, where he is serving the remainder of his sentence.

Read more about these families here:Her son went missing this summer. Now, he's found. And she is finding herself again.

And there was Stephanie Gaffney, the hopeful mother of an 8-month-old. Ten days after we met her for the story, Gaffney died from a heroin overdose.

"Seven Days of Heroin," follow the baby who lost her mom of an overdose In July Stephanie Gaffney told The Enquirer she was in treatment for her opioid addiction and aimed to create a good life for her child. Ten days later, she died of brain damage after an opioid overdose. The Enquirer/Cara Owsley

Read more about her here: Seven Days of Heroin: Elliana's story

Janie Foxx was also hard to forget. She was a mother who talked about her desire to give her two sons, both victims of overdoses, a funeral she could not afford.

Read more her here: ‘Mom, you’re not a drug addict. You don’t understand.’

One mother reached out to us after the project published.

She recognized her son, a recovering heroin addict, in our coverage.

This is her story, in her own words.

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