NARRATOR: This program contains subject
matter and language that may be disturbing to some viewers.
Viewer discretion is advised.
My name is Katie.
I'm 28, and I'm from Syracuse, New York.
KATHY: Our family is very loving and very kind and supportive
of each other.
We really are grounded in faith.
And the Ten Commandments, we try to obey them and follow them.
We need a clock.
I need--
Dad, we have 5 billion clocks.
Everywhere you look, there's a clock.
We are a loving, supportive family.
But we're quirky and we're weird and we have inside jokes
and we get each other.
DAVE: Katherine is smart and she has a compassion and empathy
that is extremely powerful.
KATIE: Right now, I'm massively addicted to drugs.
Smoking crack, drinking alcohol, sniffing dope, shooting coke.
DAVE: She uses it every hour that she's awake.
SARA: Katherine currently is financing her drug
habit by prostituting, going on dates with men,
walking the streets.
I believe that all her drugs that she's taken
and the alcohol she is drinking blocks away
every single feeling she could have for it.
And it doesn't even matter to her anymore.
KATHY: We've tried different treatment centers,
but always, if there was any disappointment, any upset,
she'd turn right back to drugs.
DAVE: I'd say Katherine's overdosed at least seven
or eight times that we know of.
KATIE: I'm a very, like, broken person right now, half person.
I'm a ghost of who I used to be.
KATHY: Dave and I wanted and waited and prayed
for children for 12 years.
And finally, Katherine was born to us on Christmas Eve day.
It was a very special gift from God.
Katherine was a wonderful baby, extremely gifted
from a very young age with words.
DAVE: By the end of her first year,
she was speaking in complete sentences.
Katherine's upbringing was--
they were very religious.
The paradigm of the perfect Catholic family is us.
I received all the sacraments.
It was a very big deal.
Catholicism was the driving force behind everything
we did in our life.
We sent Katherine to a very competitive parochial school
and she did very, very well.
SARA: Growing up, Katherine's parents
were very overprotective.
I mean, she would sneeze, they called the doctor.
They didn't let her watch most movies, watch most TV shows,
or anything like that.
She was definitely kept in this very small bubble.
They just wanted the best for me.
And so I tried so hard to be that child that they wanted.
Katherine was our only child.
And I particularly loved her 24/7.
I was kind of a stay-at-home dad.
My dad is legally blind, and he has autism and Asperger's.
He is brilliant.
But when I was younger, my dad's autism and Asperger's
made our family very different from the family of my peers.
And I felt embarrassed of my family, I'm ashamed to say.
Back then, I was embarrassed.
There are things that he can't do.
But he's protective and loving.
SARA: Katherine never had many friends growing up.
KATIE: I didn't get these kids and I wasn't like them,
and they didn't like me because I was weird.
So I read books, and I was happy, so I thought.
I was in high school and there was just
so much pressure to be perfect.
Like, my parents wanted the perfect child.
And so I wanted something that was mine because my mom
controlled everything.
And you can control what you eat.
KATHY: Her eating disorder just continued to progress.
And then she started going for weekly counseling.
We thought she was making progress,
but Katherine is smart.
She was extremely good about hiding her symptoms.
Despite her eating disorder, Katherine
continued to excel at school.
She was a cheerleader.
She was in track.
And she graduated 12th in her class,
and she went on to college.
KATIE: New York City is full of life.
It's full of things to do.
She changed her name from Katherine to Katie.
She was making a lot of friends.
And she kind of got to reinvent herself,
which I think she really loved.
KATIE: And then guys are looking at me like, damn, girl?
Are you going to come to this frat party?
So like, all of a sudden, people found me attractive.
I moved to New York for a little while
and hung out with Katie for several months.
I had a lot of friends at another college,
and I would invite her to hang out with us.
And she really started to like the idea of partying
and hanging out with people and just
a lot of different experiences that she never saw before.
And then in their sophomore year,
she went out drinking with friends.
And the friends, they went back to the dorm,
and Katherine wanted to stay a little longer.
And she left and went by herself.
And on her way back, an SUV pulled up,
a total stranger, and raped her.
KATIE: And I was positive I was going to die.
And--
Katherine didn't tell anyone.
And she didn't report it to the police.
She came home in the summer of her sophomore year,
and she weighed about 85 pounds.
She looked so awful.
You knew something was terribly wrong.
KATIE: Along with the coke, I needed something
to help, like, level it out.
So I was buying Percocets.
Just do a really good coke, taking Percocets.
I started doing heroin because it's really expensive
to buy pills, but it's way cheaper
to buy bags, which is heroin.
They searched my room and found drugs
and paraphernalia and other [bleep]
and they said, wow, you're really sick.
KATHY: Katherine move back home and continued to use drugs.
It's just been one cycle after another
of a short period of sobriety and then back to drug use.
Katherine has had seizures, she's overdosed,
she's caught hepatitis C. She just doesn't care about any
of the stuff that has happened to her
that would affect most people.
I don't think I'll be here six months from now.
I'm 73, and I'm afraid there's a chance
that I will outlive my child.
KATHY: I pray for Katherine constantly,
especially when she's missing.
I'm thankful to God that she responds.
She sounded like she needed drugs.
She asked me if we could buy some on our way home.
If I thought that I was just giving her money to buy drugs
or just driving her to get drugs, that's one thing.
MAN (ON PHONE): Hello?
Hello, is Katherine there?
MAN (ON PHONE): Yup, yup.
Can you ask her to come down?
But I'm only doing that until I can get her into the next thing
and get help for her.
KATIE: Does anybody have a cigarette?
KATHY: No.
Kathy definitely takes Katherine to get drugs,
no matter what the hour is.
KATIE: I'm going to get out right here.
I have to, because my mom will get shot.
- No. - Yes.
Just let me get closer to-- [interposing voices]
No. You can't.
I got somebody right behind me.
TERI: I think it's disgusting.
It's awful for Katherine to do that.
And I think it's awful for Kathy to promote it.
Close the door.
Mom, you [bleep].
I will come right back to the car.
I am not going--
Do you want our house to get shot up?
Do you want a bullet put in your hand?
My God, lady?
I'm getting out right here.
Wait, wait.
I'm getting out.
I gotta know when to pick you up.
Your phone doesn't work and mine doesn't work.
KATIE: Meet me in 10 minutes.
They have to have their cameras down, down on Isabella.
OK? - OK.
Very good. Love you.
Bye, Hon.
Hello?
MAN: Want to go there?
Because this guy's going to start filming.
Before we get started, you know, I just--
I was informed that she's aware that this is an intervention.
So normally, what we do is we shut this down.
The minute that she has any inkling that it would be
the show "Intervention," we shut down production and everybody
goes home.
The reason why, it's twofold.
The first one is that we lose her.
DAVE: Right.
She just takes off and runs.
Or she goes out and parties and hits it hard.
Yeah.
KEN SEELEY: And a lot of people overdose then.
I don't think she's going to come here for an interview.
Yeah.
KEN SEELEY: So we might have to do it on the fly.
And we may have to go meet her where she's at.
[music playing]
SARA: So it's very hard because I know this
is her last chance at help.
She doesn't accept it.
There is no other place for her besides death.
KATIE: Stoned, not worth it.
You're not getting that rush because you're--
who in the [bleep]?
Who are you?
Hey, how are you?
Who the [bleep] are you?
KEN SEELEY: My name is Ken.
Oh my God.
KEN SEELEY: How are you?
You're kidding right now, right?
Katherine.
You are [bleep] kidding me right now.
KEN SEELEY: We just need a couple of minutes.
No, this is not happening.
I refuse to do this.
You're such a liar.
You are such a mother [bleep] liar.
You guys--
KEN SEELEY: Just a few minutes
KATIE: I, like, packed my bag because I
was going to run away last night because I
knew this was going to happen.
KATHY: It's bigger and more important
that you know that we are loved.
Why didn't leave last night?
KATHY: But Katherine, if you ran away, we'd never find you.
You would die.
I'm not in denial about how bad my addiction is
and how close to death I am.
I get it.
KEN SEELEY: So why don't we do this?
Why don't you get your letters.
You know the process.
They'll just read you a quick letter and then--
Yeah, and then you can call the police and send me to jail.
DAVE: No, you're going to be OK.
KEN SEELEY: No, that's not what we want.
That's not what we want for you.
KEN SEELEY: Nobody wants that.
SARA: Katherine, I'm here today because we
have been best friends and sisters since we were born.
And I cannot stand the thought of losing you.
Remember when we were growing up playing kickball
with our friends, crazy video game sessions,
and being obsessed with our soap operas.
KATHY: Together, you, dad, and I make a strong, happy family.
Why did you lie about--
Constantly, I'm afraid of you dying.
I'm afraid of the diseases you can
catch working as a prostitute.
I'm afraid of the cellulitis you catch so frequently.
I am so scared for you.
Please choose to get help today.
KATIE: I'm not doing this right now.
Because I don't want to be ambushed by [inaudible] people.
But we were afraid you were going to run.
That's the only reason we did it this way.
KATHY: We love you and we're trying to save your life.
[bleep] you.
DAVE: What would we do if we lost you?
You are flesh of our flesh, blood of my blood.
You're the only child we ever had.
And to see you destroy yourself.
We cannot stand idly by.
We would do anything to save you.
I am your father.
I have loved you from the day we knew you were even
existing in your mother's womb.
I loved you the day--
I've loved you through all the times you were sick and hurt.
I love you now and I always will love you.
I have my own issues, I understand that.
But you are--
Dad, you're perfect.
You were the most wonderful father.
Like--
DAVE: Katherine, you are sick, you need help.
You've got to choose life.
KATIE: OK.
You've got to choose to get help.
OK, like, you get raped all the times I've been raped
and then see how you can just, like bounce on back
and deal with life without some kind of--
KEN SEELEY: Well, that's what this is all about.
This is about you getting the real help that you need
for dealing with that trauma.
KATHY: Katherine, you won't live long this way.
I know it's bad.
Will you please go?
Why would I have put up with all this ridiculousness if I
wasn't going to go with you?
KEN SEELEY: Give her a hug and let's go.
KATHY: I love you, Katherine.
SARA: Yeah.
KATIE: I love you guys.
DAVE: My heart is broken, but I'm
hopeful because I think there's a chance now
we can mend it again.
KATIE: I'm a drug addict.
I'm not a bad person.
And I love my family and they love me enough to, like,
get me on this show.
So I owe it to them to at least try.
And I'm going to try like hell.
I don't want them to have to bury their daughter.
[music playing]