Fighting for Her Daughter: Shay Thomas on Addiction, Motherhood and Recovery

The Mark Manderson Show · Aug 6, 2026 · 1h 22m

After 13 overdoses, repeated arrests, and losing custody of her daughter, Shay Thomas reached a point where she had to decide whether she would continue disappearing into addiction—or fight for her life and her family. In this deeply personal episode of The Mark Manderson Show, Shay shares her journey from experimenting with drugs at a young age to surviving an abusive teen treatment facility, years of opioid and heroin addiction, jail, drug court, and the devastating moment her daughter was taken from her. Shay opens up about the shame and self-blame she carried after being sexually harmed…