Woman left with ‘gaping hole’ in her face after ‘doing too much cocaine’ issues serious warning to others
Warning: This article contains discussion of drug addiction which some readers may find distressing.
A woman has issued a chilling warning to cocaine users after her nose collapsed due to her continued use of the Class A drug.
Stories about people's noses collapsing after sniffing too many lines of the white powder may sound like urban myths and scare tactics to keep us all on the straight and narrow, but we've got some bad news for you.
This nightmarish scenario is 100 percent true, with one woman in the US detailing the gruelling process of rebuilding her nose.
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Back in 2017, Kelly Kozyra would head on a night out with friends when her life changed forever.
The 38-year-old was offered a line of cocaine by a friend and within months found herself completely at the mercy of the drug, even swapping out eating and sleeping in order to fuel her drug habit.
In just 19 months, Kelly would spend a whopping $80,000 (£63,400) in order to inhale the party drug around the clock — and it wouldn't be long until the negative side effects began to set in.
"I began using cocaine day and night. I wasn't eating, I wasn't sleeping. I was holding a job but eventually I had to quit," she recalled.
Kelly soon began to experience bleeding inside her nose and was even blowing out chunks of skin from her nostrils, which is a pretty harrowing thought.
Unfortunately the Chicago native didn't take notice of the warning signs until it was too late, believing 'this couldn't happen to me', until her daily cocaine habit and ended up eroding her septum entirely.
"I thought it would just heal itself, but I still continued snorting," she continued. "The septum completely deteriorated. Then I got a hole on the outside of my face, which grew to the size of a dime."
A collapsed nose didn't even deter Kelly from using, as she began to 'shove' her pinky finger into her nasal cavity to hold the drug in.
"It destroyed everything in my life, including my nose," she added.
After an intervention from friends and family in 2021 Kelly has since been able to get sober and has undergone 15 reconstructive surgeries to repair her nose.
The gruelling journey has involved a patch of skin being from her forehead being used to fashion a new nose and using an artery from her arm to rebuild blood supply to the area.
Kelly said: "This entire experience has taught me so much. Now I live day by day, that's how we're taught to live through the programme.
"I don't have any plans of relapsing or using. I think being open about it helps me and other people. The more we talk about drug use, the less stigmatised it becomes."
If you want friendly, confidential advice about drugs, you can talk to FRANK. You can call 0300 123 6600, text 82111 or contact through their website 24/7, or livechat from 2pm-6pm any day of the week.
Brenna Cooper