00:00Megan Taylor says her ketamine use began at 18 after losses left her vulnerable.
00:05What started as an occasional use at parties became an addiction that dominated her life,
00:11leaving her needing the drug before she could eat, shower or even get out of bed.
00:24By early 2023, she says she was taking up to 40 lines a day.
00:28Her weight fell from 10 stone to just 4 stone, and she developed bladder problems, chest pain and bleeding.
00:35She says she spent thousands of pounds a year on the drug.
00:38When I was in that shape, I was waking up every day for two and a half years.
00:45I didn't see a way out, I didn't see any shorter weight.
00:51So I thought, I'm going to be safer in this drug to the grave with me.
00:56You know, this is going to be my cough and blah, blah, blah.
00:59This is my best need, and this is the thing that's always there for me whenever I'm feeling calm or
01:05not.
01:06I'd say, it's just, I don't know, I just love it.
01:10My future, I know it's right.
01:11Yeah.
01:12It's a healthy future.
01:14You know, I'm free from the torment, free from the pain.
01:19Megan says her parents did not know what was happening.
01:21Her mother, Angela, became aware in May 2023, but Megan continued using the drug for another two years.
01:28Angela says she became so fearful she started planning her daughter's funeral.
01:33Now it's a lot more awareness around it, so hopefully more can be done and more senses open up for
01:42people to attend, to go to,
01:44so they have somewhere that they can feel like they've got a purpose.
01:50Megan says she finally stopped after passing a black golf ball-sized piece of bladder tissue in May 2025.
01:57She'd also become attending Lifeboat Recovery Community Hub and received a week-long detox through Change, Grow, Live.
02:04I sit there, sit there, sit there, pierce them down and find out what is going on.
02:11Try and, you know, look for warning signs of, you know, pain.
02:17How often they go in the toilet, if they're using water bottles on their stomach,
02:23they may need the signs to look out for.
02:30Megan says doctors told her she could have had only four months to live if she'd not stopped.
02:35She says she's been sober for over a year, saying her bladder is healing and helps run recovery sessions.
02:42Well, they probably don't realise what pain they're causing, because Megan didn't realise it,
02:47but the pain for a parent is heartbreaking, because you can't, you're literally watching your child disappear in front of
02:56you,
02:56and I wouldn't wish that on any parent.
02:59I'm going to ask her, please.
