Woman is now in a wheelchair and can’t move her legs after getting addicted to nangs
A woman is now confined to a wheelchair after her laughing gas addiction took control of her life.
Kerry-Anne Donaldson first tried nangs, also known as NOS or nitrous oxide, when she was 18.
It only took three years before her legs and feet started to go numb.
“As soon as I woke up I would get straight on the balloons," she said.
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“I kept chasing the original high I felt, but because my head was already rushing, I couldn’t find it.
“I now can’t move my legs and have to take a lot of pain medication while living out of a wheelchair.
“When taking the balloons I would barely eat so I am now anaemic and the shortness of breath has affected my asthma.
“My dad is [my] primary carer, and I’m so lucky to have so much support around me, from him, my mum and my sisters. I don’t know what I would do without them.”
When she was told she would be wheelchair-bound, she quit the nangs.
"The doctor asked if I had taken anything so I was honest and told him I had been using cannisters and balloons," she admitted.
"That's when he informed me what was in them - nitrous oxide - and told me about the effects.
"He said the reason I'm in pain and unable to walk is because of the damage it causes.
"It blocks oxygen from going around your body and to your brain and destroys your vitamin B12 levels.
However, as her body started to get better, she relapsed and went back to inhaling the gas from morning until night.
Despite quitting them again, she completely lost control or feeling of her legs in January last year.
While she has tried to use crutches instead of the wheelchair, she has noticed that she's experiencing weakness in her arms as well.
The UK government is reclassifying nitrous oxide to be a Class C drug.
People caught with the substance could face up to two years in jail and there's a 14-year sentence for those convicted of supply or production.
While Kerry-Anne thinks this is a step in the right direction, it won't stop the problem.
"I don't think the law will get it off the streets. If someone wants it, there will always be a way to buy it," she said.
"Kids have always found a way to get illegal drugs, so I’m not sure it will actually stop them, but it should at least push up the prices and prevent overuse."
Stewart Perrie