Season 5 Episode 5
Brittany
Age: 20’s
Location: Birmingham, Alabama
Addiction: Dilaudid
What’s Memorable: Oh this poor messed-up girl, living her whole life under the shadow of her older sister, to the point that her mother thought she may be the reincarnation of her. She was also molested as a kid and gang raped as a teenager – it’s not a mystery why she needs to numb out. I just hope she was able to find her way out and figure out who she is.
Update: Brittany Loren Ross passed away on September 9, 2019. Cause of death is unconfirmed. Here is her obituary.
Official synopsis: Brittany was born five years after the brutal rape and murder of her 9-year-old sister, Terry. Brittany struggled with the pressure to live up to her mother’s perfect image of Terry. At 12, Brittany was molested, and she began taking drugs and sneaking out at night–anything to get out from under Terry’s shadow. Now she shoots up Dilaudid six times a day, begs family members for money and prostitutes herself. Brittany’s mother scrambles to give Brittany enough money for her fix. Desperate and on the verge of bankruptcy, Brittany’s family prepares for an intervention.
Original Air Date: December 2008
Interventionist: Candy
This is honestly one of the darkest episodes for me. Her mom absolutely broke me and I have all the empathy in the world for her, but poor Brittany living in her dead older sister’s shadow and her mother saying she is the reincarnation of her is.. tough. The little suicide pact she made in her head with her daughter was so hard to listen too. I understand her pain but that was brutal. Brittany not able to even keep her eyes open in her interview was disturbing, her boyfriend driving to get her out of a crack house while her mother and sister panic, not to mention the poor sister Michelle who is being consumed by her anger (rightfully so) and her mother just keeps giving in. When she said ‘my mother never told me I was beautiful’ my heart broke. For Diane to lose her husband and Brittany following the episode on top of Terri – I cannot imagine her pain. I hope her, Michelle and the rest of their family found some peace. Diane especially deserves it so much.