Spokane Woman Beats Fentanyl, Now Saves Other Addicts

When Victoria Neumiller woke up covered in ice cubes near a Spokane 7-Eleven five years ago, her friends had just saved her from a fatal fentanyl overdose. That near-death moment wouldn't be her last day using drugs, but it set her on a path toward saving her own life and hundreds of others.

Neumiller, now 38, spent nearly two decades trapped in addiction that started with marijuana at 15 and progressed through cocaine, methamphetamine, heroin, and finally fentanyl. Her arrest in August 2023 for intent to deliver fentanyl became the turning point she'd been waiting for.

"It was the best day of my life, because I knew I would be set free," Neumiller said. When she called her mother LuAnn from jail, she could hear the relief in her voice, grateful it wasn't the medical examiner calling instead.

Today, Neumiller works at the Pioneer Human Services Stabilization Center in Spokane, the same facility that helped her get clean. She arrives at 5:30 a.m. and stays two hours past her shift every single day because, as she puts it, "It's my happy place."

Around 40 people walk through the center's doors daily, many suffering through the sweats, nausea, and insomnia of withdrawal. Neumiller knows exactly what they're going through because she lived it.

Her manager Jamea Jamison remembers interviewing Neumiller three years ago. "She was bleeding empathy," Jamison said. "You could see the love she has for the struggling addict."

Why This Inspires

Spokane County saw 346 overdose deaths in 2024 and 344 in 2025, a fourfold increase from 2019 when fentanyl first gripped the region. Behind every statistic is someone's child, friend, or parent fighting for their life.

Neumiller's transformation shows recovery is possible even after decades of addiction. She helps people she once knew from the streets, offering hope through her own living proof that the 14th attempt at treatment might be the one that finally works.

Her mother LuAnn worried the work would weigh too heavily on her daughter's spirit. But when she visited the center and saw the love between staff and residents, she knew Neumiller had found where she belonged.

"It truly is a blessing to witness your child rebuild herself into the person she was meant to be," LuAnn said. "There are no words that can express how proud I am of her."

Three years sober and counting, Neumiller now represents hope for thousands of people still struggling in Spokane.