ROWAN COUNTY, Ky. (LEX News) — Samantha May has lived in Rowan County her entire life. Today, she is raising her three children there — but the road to get to this point was far from simple.
May says her struggle with addiction began before she was even an adult.
"Probably 16, when I started really experiencing with drugs and it got back in my 20s," May said.
She says she used whatever she could get her hands on, and it eventually landed her in the Rowan County Detention Center multiple times. Each time she got out, May says she told herself things would be different.
"I would get out and all I wanted to do is not do drugs, then I couldn't," May said.
The cycle continued until around 2016, when May lost custody of her children. It was a moment that forced her to take a hard look at her life and what she wanted for her family.
"I thought to myself, If I don't do something do different in my life, my children are going to experience this," May said.
That realization became her turning point. It took two years, but May fought to get her children back and says she has not touched a drug since. She also got involved with local outreach programs, using service to others as a way to stay grounded in her recovery.
Her story is not unique to Rowan County. According to the Kentucky Justice and Public Safety Cabinet, Rowan County recorded 10 overdose deaths in 2025, a reminder of what is at stake for families across the area.
For May, those numbers represent real people and a reason to keep sharing her own story.
"When I was using I didn't think I wouldn't be anything. I thought I would just die as a using addict. I don't have to," May said.
In March, May reached a milestone she once thought was out of reach: ten years sober. She says the simple things mean the most now: a stable home, her children by her side, and a future she can see clearly.
"I just want people to know that they don't have to die as an addict. There is a way out of that. There is hope for their future," May said.
