Woman, 22, candidly reveals why she's refusing to 'unplug' her drug addict mom after an overdose left her on a ventilator with limited brain activity - despite knowing that she will 'have to care for her for the rest of her life'

A young woman has opened up about the heartbreaking reality she faces on a daily basis after refusing to 'unplug' her drug addict mother from her ventilator - which she has been on since she suffered an overdose in September 2023, which left her with an anoxic brain injury.

Amanda Lise, 22, explained in a now-viral video that her 45-year-old mother Carol, overdosed on fentanyl-laced cocaine in September 2023 - revealing that, while her parent is not brain dead, the overdose has left her with very limited brain activity. 

'She was found unalive by one of her “friends,"' she explained in a TikTok video, which has been viewed over 13.5 million times.

'He gave her CPR and they rushed her to the hospital.'

A young woman has opened up about the heartbreaking reality she faces on a daily basis after refusing to 'unplug' her drug addict mother from her ventilator 

Amanda Lise, 22, explained in a now-viral video that her 45-year-old mother Carol, overdosed on fentanyl laced in cocaine in September 2023 

Amanda insisted that her mom, who had been battling addiction since 2017, can hear her speaking and knows when she's being touched because she moves in response, despite her condition, which was caused by her brain being deprived of oxygen for more than five minutes. 

'When you talk to her, she'll blink, she'll move her eyes,' she described. 'So she's not a complete vegetable.'

Amanda, who has two younger siblings she described as her 'world', said her mom's limited brain activity was one of the reasons she didn't take her off the ventilator when she was first hospitalized.

'There are other cases that happen where you do unplug someone, and they continue to breathe on their own and live on their own,' she explained.

'I also took that in consideration when I made my decision not to unplug her,' she continued.

'You know, imagine deciding to unalive your mom and unplug her and she lives and she breathes,' she pointed out. 'How sh**ty that would feel.'

'God made a choice to bring my mother back to me and my family and my siblings,' she continued. 'I am not God, these doctors are not God - [if] it was her time, it would have been her time and he wouldn't have brought her back to us.'

Amanda added something her husband said to her when her mom first overdosed, when she was grappling with her decision. 

'[My husband] said that the decision I make is going to stick with me for the rest of my life,' she recounted.

Amanda said she had a lot of people telling her what to do at the time, but her husband reminded her that at the end of the day, she's the one that has to deal with the consequences. 

'I'm the one who's gonna have to live with my decision 10 years from now,' she said. 'That may seem selfish to everyone, but I cannot live with a thought that I could have been the reason why my mom didn't didn't have a fighting chance. 

Amanda, who has two younger siblings, said her mom's limited brain activity was one of the reasons she didn't take her off the ventilator when she was first hospitalized

TikTok users showed their support for Amanda's decision and her mother Carol

'My mom deserves a fighting chance and if anyone should give that chance to her,' she said.

Amanda said she feels as though she made the right decision, and her mom's doctors have told her she's doing well medically - 'aside from the fact that she has a brain injury.'

At the end of the day, Amanda said her mother is a great mom, and she owes it to her to 'help her and to not turn my back on her.'

'She's a great mom, she she has always been a great mom. And she was my mom before drugs. So she's not just an addict to me.,' she said emotionally.

Thousands of comments poured in, showing their support for Amanda's situation.

'I’m right here with my dad in the sameeeeeee situation!!! You showed 100% the truth! People don’t know until they have gone through it like we have!!' one TikTok user commented.  

'I lost my mother to addiction in a similar way. It’s so difficult to handle the highs and lows of wondering why you weren’t worth as much as their addiction was,' someone else chimed in.

'You don’t have to explain to anyone,' declared another.