This summer, fans became worried sick about Demi Lovato’s hospitalization following an overdose. But the shock among fans couldn’t compare to what one of the people closest to her might have felt. Demi’s mom, Dianna De La Garza, spoke to the media for the first time since her daughter’s overdose. “It’s still a difficult thing to talk about,” De La Garza told Newsmax TV. “I literally start to shake a little bit when I start to remember what happened that day.”
De La Garza, who is the author of the bestselling memoir, Falling With Wings: A Mother’s Story, talked about the moment she found out about Demi’s hospitalization. “The first lines of these texts were saying, ‘I just heard the news, I’m so sorry, I’m praying for your family, I’m praying for Demi.’ I was in shock,” she said. “I thought, what is going on? … My heart just dropped.”
With oldest daughter Dallas by her side, De La Garza first heard the news from Demi’s assistant, Kelsey. She recalls anxiously asking about Demi’s condition. “I said, ‘Is she OK?’ And she stopped for a second and she said, ‘She’s conscious, but she’s not talking,’” she said. “I knew at that point that we were in trouble.”
Demi, who is reportedly entering rehab, had been sober for six years before relapsing and overdosing. During the Newsmax TV interview, De La Garza said that currently, Demi is “doing really well.”
This is a painful reminder that those who suffer from addiction, however large their spotlight, have families who care deeply about them and suffer alongside them.