HAYS COUNTY, Texas – In April 2023, a Hays County woman survived a fentanyl overdose. She was in the throes of an addiction that nearly killed her. Today, she credits a program called Neighborhood Defender Service for her sobriety.

Meaghan Callahan said April 26, 2023, is the day that changed her life forever.

“I don’t remember anything except for waking up to the first responders around me and I really had no idea what had happened,” Callahan said.

Callahan had overdosed on fentanyl. EMS administered four doses of Narcan and saved her life.

“When I came to, and I really just got my senses about me, in that jail cell, I was grateful to even be in a jail cell, it gave me a new lease on life,” Callahan said.

Callahan was in jail and charged with multiple felonies for possession. Police said marijuana was in plain view, and they also found several other types of drugs. Two kids, both under the age of five, were just feet away and were being taken care of by a roommate.

“Children do not deserve to be wrapped up in that world,” Callahan said.

Callahan said she had relapsed. She is a recovering alcoholic and blamed herself, at the time, for trying to get sober alone.

“Even though it was self-medicating, I was trying to treat my alcoholism with the studies that have been done by microdosing ketamine and mushrooms and I felt like that would help me as well as the CBD and cannabis that was found, I thought that that would help me with my postpartum depression to be honest,” Callahan said.

MORE CRIME WATCH STORIES:

It almost cost her her life.

“You can’t really fix yourself; you’ve got to go outside yourself to the community and the professionals to get help,” Callahan said.

Callahan was given that opportunity. She was represented by an attorney with the Neighborhood Defender Service, specifically for Hays County.

“We try to help the client instead of just trying to help the case,” Neighborhood Defender Service Texas Meenu Walters said.

NDS staff have been handling about 25 percent of all Hays County cases since 2023. Walters said they use a holistic, team-based model of defense, which includes not only lawyers, but social workers, client advocates, and investigators.

“Something that we can try to work on is building out and identifying community-based options for people so that if we can get in and get people the help that they need outside the system, maybe the system is not what they rely on for help,” Walters said.

“I had a whole team around me to really help me just get better,” Callahan said.

A judge gave her a second chance. All of Callahan’s charges were dropped. She’s now in recovery and wants to help others.

“I want to give hope to the people out there that are in active addiction or love people that know there is a solution and there’s a huge team of us waiting to help,” Callahan said.

She encourages people to ask for help because she said a wonderful life is on the other side.

A Texas man died while hiking the Grand Canyon’s River Trail on Saturday, National Park Service officials said.

Park officials received a report of a semiconscious hiker on the River Trail halfway between Silver Bridge and Black Bridge near Phantom Ranch around 7 p.m. Saturday. The hiker, identified as 69-year-old Scott Sims from Austin, Texas, became unresponsive shortly after.

Bystanders attempted CPR before three park service paramedics from Phantom Ranch responded to the scene and took over. CPR attempts were unsuccessful.

Sims was hiking to Phantom Ranch for an overnight stay, park officials said.

The Coconino County Medical Examiner and the National Park Service were investigating the incident.

Monday, July 1, 2024, is going to end up being a day to remember in Big 12 history. It is the day that Texas and Oklahoma are officially out of the Big 12 and into the SEC. Is it the biggest day in Big 12 history? Only time will tell.

While Monday is a huge day for everyone involved, I can’t help but go back to Big 12 media days three years ago. Former Big 12 commissioner Bob Bowlsby cracked a joke about being glad he didn’t have to answer realignment questions and said that everything was fine within the conference.

Less than two weeks after that statement, the news heard around the world broke. Texas and Oklahoma were heading to the SEC after the 2024 season. Of course, we all knew that they would get out earlier, and they did. Instead of having to wait another four years, they got out in three after forking up millions of dollars.

I may not be a true Big 12 historian, but I am not stupid enough to realize what these two schools have done for the conference. Like it or not, Oklahoma and Texas have combined for 18 Big 12 titles in the last 25 years. Fourteen of those titles have come from the Sooners, while the Longhorns have had four. They have brought name recognition to the conference along with a pair of national titles and countless title game appearances.

The success they have had here (especially Oklahoma) has been off the charts. The Sooners had a run of six Big 12 titles in a row before the streak ended in 2021. And as someone who has covered the conference since 2016, I have seen plenty of championships won by Oklahoma. In fact, I have covered just two conference championship games that haven’t featured either Oklahoma or Texas since the game was brought back in 2017.

Both schools have had their fair share of superstars over the years. Jason White, Sam Bradford, Baker Mayfield, and Kyler Murray all won Heisman trophies while playing in the Big 12, while Texas has had a few close calls between Vince Young and Colt McCoy. I could go on and on about all the greats that have suited up for these two since the conference came together in 1996, but that would take up too much time here.

Whether or not you will be shedding a tear or jumping for joy is up to you, but there is no doubt in my mind that the conference will not be the same without these two schools. The SEC is saying that it’s a new era, and you know what? It’s also a new era in the Big 12, too.

We are bringing in four new schools and have brought in a total of eight new schools in the last couple of years. Without Texas or Oklahoma leaving, I am not sure if that would have happened, but I am glad it did. Am I going to miss that first Saturday in October at the Cotton Bowl? Sure, but I am also excited to see what the future holds in the Big 12 because it is going to be the most exciting football conference in America from top to bottom. So goodbye, Texas and Oklahoma.

Maybe we will meet again, but until then, enjoy the SEC. Sometimes, the grass isn’t always greener on the other side.