Woman Beats 10-Year Addiction, Now Helps Others Heal

Stacy Bantner graduated in the top 20 percent of her high school class in South Carolina, active in extracurriculars and passionate about writing. Then everything changed on July 7, 2010, when a drunk driver hit her car.

The crash fused two vertebrae in her neck and left her managing chronic pain. Doctors prescribed oxycodone, eventually leading to what she calls "10 dark and troubling years" battling addiction to heroin, crack, and methamphetamines.

Bantner lost her family, friends, and nearly her life in abusive relationships. A family friend in South Carolina discovered The Summit, a Fort Payne, Alabama center offering hope and healing for women dealing with substance abuse.

"I was terrified," Bantner remembers about arriving at the program. "I was afraid more than anything else."

The Summit's year-long program wasn't easy. Bantner faced her own struggles with self-entitlement and deep-seated fears while receiving biblical counseling and learning to trust again.

On graduation day, she felt overwhelming victory. Months later, that feeling hasn't faded.

The Ripple Effect

Bantner isn't keeping her transformation to herself. She became a certified addiction counselor through the International Association of Biblical Counselors in October 2024, just a month after publishing a 40-day poetry devotional.

People working through their own difficult times have reached out to tell her the devotional encouraged them. She's now dedicating her life to meeting others where she once stood, offering the same compassion and understanding that helped her heal.

She's also found love with someone who shares her faith, with a wedding planned for the near future. "My story is one of tragedy being redeemed for a purpose," she says.

From nearly losing everything to gaining a life she never imagined possible, Bantner proves that second chances can lead to extraordinary purpose.