I-Team: Heroin's Stronghold On Unlikely Victims

PLYMOUTH (CBS) -- The opioid crisis has reached a point where it is claiming more victims than car accidents.

One reason is because of the scope of the problem. This drug epidemic is affecting people across the demographic spectrum.

Liz Azevedo is one of its unlikely victims. "People always say to me, 'Oh you don't look like a heroin addict!', and I'm like, 'What should a heroin addict look like?'"

Liz was a soccer standout as a child and became a decorated captain at Whitman-Hanson High School. She is from a loving family in a middle class community.

But a drinking problem that started during her time as a U.S Marine spun out of control when she finally came home. "I will never forget the first time I picked up and shot heroin. I was like, 'Oh my god', the power of it. It was just overwhelming."

Within months, Liz was a shadow of her old self. "I was homeless on the street, and every day, waking up and having no life. It takes your soul away. You know, it takes your life away. You lose everything."

Related: On The Front Lines Of The Opioid Crisis

Liz recalls being in the ER for an overdose and being revived with Narcan. What happened next shocks her as she thinks about it today.

"Within a couple of hours of having Narcan administered, I was shooting the same dope that made me overdose," she said.

When asked how someone with her background could be drawn into this life, Liz said, "It's not like I woke up one day and said, 'Oh yea, I am going to be a heroin addict. That's a good choice'. It happened so fast, and it can happen to anybody."

Related: The Roots Of Opioid Addiction

"We see patients from all walks of life," said Peter Monaghan of Clean Slate, a rehab facility that helped Liz beat her addiction. "I think that people are starting to realize that here aren't any socio economic boundaries with opiate dependency."

Monaghan added, "I think there is that kind of stigma where people think about the addict, or the heroin addict, or the opiate addict as being this homeless person, that is shooting up in an alley way wearing disgusting clothes. No. They are the person that lives next door."

Today, Liz is a homeowner in Plymouth and building a career as a manager in the hospitality industry.

Her addiction is with her every day, but it's a lens she uses to sharpen her view of the future. 'I think about it, and I never thought I would be able to have all these wonderful things now, that often we take for granted, but I don't take them for granted anymore."

Recent figures from the public health depart show the widespread scope of opiate addiction. While a majority of overdose deaths in Massachusetts were between the ages of 25-44 over the first part of last year, dozens were over 55 years old. Three were 65 years or older.