Former Playboy playmate Ashley Mattingly was known to have an alcohol addiction and now her sister is opening up about how it "got the best of her."
Ashley died from suicide at age 33 last week. Two days prior, she shared an unsettling video to Instagram of herself in a hospital bed, admitting she was there because she "drank too much."
Her sister Christy Deweese, revealed to Fox News that the late model had struggled with addiction for several years and had been in and out of rehab.
Mattingly had attempted to get her life "back in order" but alcohol was the "one thing she couldn't overcome," Deweese said.
"[Addiction] can happen to anyone and it takes a really strong person to overcome it. She was obviously a very strong person and it still got the best of her," the sister added.
Mattingly was a "very social person" and being in self-isolation due to the coronavirus pandemic may have added to her struggles, Deweese noted.
"She was always the life of the party, happy, outgoing, when she's in a good place," she said of her late sister. "She definitely had a substance abuse issue but there are times she's been to rehab. She always wanted to get herself on the right track. She's very ambitious."
Looking back, Deweese said she may have missed the warning signs of what was to come.
"I know she didn't reach out to close family before this happened and my opinion is she thinks we would know and we would act on it," she said. "Sometimes the signs are there but you don't know it. A lot of times there's nothing you can do because there's so many scenarios that could happen."
Deweese recalled her sister's strong drive to achieve whatever she set her mind to, which made it harder to process what had happened.
"It's hard because this isn't something we planned for," she said. "She was a good person and addiction can take down anything, so I ask for people to just be mindful."
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