Mother shares heartbreaking photo of her dying daughter as she pulls the plug following overdose

Pictures shared to raise awareness of opioid danger.

Cheryl Towery has shared a dramatic photo of her dying daughter, as she prepared to pull the plug on her life support. Her daughter, Elaina overdosed on opioids, and eventually died. Towery shared the photo to bring awareness to the danger of opioid addiction.

LOS ANGELES, CA (California Network) -- Cheryl Towery's daughter, Elaina died on Monday followed an opioid overdose. As she prepared to remove her daughter from life support, she took one final picture, hugging her baby. She shared that picture as her daughter died to raise awareness of the dangers of opioid addiction.

Elaina was about to start a new job, and was working to turn her life around. But she was addicted to opioids following an abusive relationship with her five-year-old son's father. Despite the abusive nature of the relationship, he drug abuse resulted in her losing custody of her son. Elaina went into five rehab programs, but left each one without ending her habit. She suffered sexual abuse.

Last Monday, Elaina went to a fast food restaurant with a friend. She went to the restroom where doctors believe she ingested heroin laced with fentanyl. After 25 minutes, an employee found her suffering from cardiac arrest in the restroom. She was transported to the hospital where she later died.

Opioid addiction is a serious and growing problem in the United States, with as many as one-third of all working age adults having a prescription for opioid medications written in the last year. The drugs are very easy to get.

For those who cannot get them, heroin and other opioid painkillers are also available on the black market.

Opioid addiction is difficult to cure and rehab clinics sometimes encourage patients to relapse so they can restart they cycle of insurance benefits and cash in all over again on the same person. Addicts bounce from rehab to rehab until they die.

Industry statistics from the manufacturing sector suggest as many as half of all blue-collar workers could not pass a drug test, if tested. Many applicants for jobs cannot pass drug tests. The statistics are only slightly better in the white-collar world.

America is drugging itself to death. Combined with the decline of faith, patriotism, morals, civic engagement, fake news, and social media addiction, and there is little hope for the future of our republic.

Towery hopes the picture will convince more people to avoid opioids or seek treatment. She especially wants to see a crackdown on the people selling these drugs on the streets.