WILMINGTON, N.C. — A Wilmington woman shares her story of overcoming alcoholism after losing both her mother and daughter.

What You Need To Know

  • Talk it Out is an organization that helps start the conversation of underage drinking between kids and their parents
  • The average age that most youths try alcohol for the first time is just 14, according to Talk it Out
  • Thirty-eight percent of eighth graders have had alcohol at least once, reported by Talk it Out
  • Talk it Out says about 10% of 12-year-olds say they have tried alcohol, and by age 15, that number jumps to 50%

At the age of 3, Shirley Hart remembers her first taste of alcohol.

“It’s bitter at first, but then I continue to drink. And I said, ‘Wow, you know, I like that buzz that it gave me,’” Hart said.

She lost her mother to domestic violence when she was a teenager and turned to binge drinking to numb the pain.

“So I just started drinking, and it just escalated from one thing to another. And then, from that point on, I, I went on into doing other things, other drugs and everything like that,” Hart said.

Her addiction to alcohol grew into a dependence on other drugs as well.

She lost Tia, her 7-year-old daughter, in a house fire.

“The flames stopped us. So I just took my head and busted through the window. And I called Tia, and she was saying, ‘Mommy, mommy,’ to me. And I was trying to get her to come to the to the window. I was trying to get her to come there. And me and her kept talking to neither one of us because they nothing anymore,” Hart described.

Her addiction grew worse, never coping with the loss of her mother or daughter. She was in and out of prison until one day a judge set her bail so high she couldn’t get out.

“Oh, fresh meat. Oh, Lord, that really got to me, you know,” Hart said. 

During her time in prison and rehab, her children would always visit her. One visit, however, she decided it was time to change.

“My babies say, ‘Momma, you coming with us?’” Hart said.

Since then, Hart’s life has taken a turn for the best. She is 22 years sober and now talks with parents and their kids about the effects of alcohol and underage drinking.

“Just talking to the parents and to the children about the use of alcohol and drugs and let them know what the effect that it has on them and on their brains and how that, you know, that first drink could lead them down the wrong path,” Hart said.