The Brit has now been sober for 15 months after struggling with alcohol and drug addiction
A self-proclaimed party animal was temporarily blinded and left with blood-red eyes for months after a cocaine binge.
Dave Mullen snorted his first ‘naive’ line of the Class A drug on his 17th birthday after being offered it in a pub – something which he ultimately regrets.
The former carpet fitter admitted he got a taste for it, sniffing it while drinking at soccer away days with his pals and on lads holidays.
The occasional dabble quickly turned into an addiction come Dave’s 19th birthday, and at his worst saw he sank 15 pints a day and snorted thousands of pounds worth of cocaine over seven-day benders.
It got to the point where Dave was in a coma following a drug-induced psychosis, with a photo taken in August 2021 showing the Brit with terrifying bloodshot eyes.
His eyes remained such a startling red months later. When he went back to work at a retirement home, a man chased him with a Bible fearing he was the devil.
Dave’s occasional drug dabbling turned into an addiction (Kennedy News)
Dave was left with extremely bloodshot eyes (Kennedy News)
While that was a big wake up call, Dave fell back into his old habits just a few months later – which continued for the following three years.
It was only after a hospital trip in March 2024 where doctors said he could die that he decided to quit, and he’s been clean since.
Dave is now sharing his story in the hope it will help people going through similar situations.
“Cocaine goes hand-in-hand with alcohol and at a weak or naive moment as I was young, someone offered me a line and I took it,” he said.
“At 19 I noticed it had become an addiction. Every year it got worse and worse and would affect so many people around me due to the mental health episodes I would have.”
The booze and the cocaine impacted Dave’s mental health (Kennedy News)
Speaking of the infamous photo of his eyes, Dave added: “This was a result of a four or five-day bender and I ended up going into a drug-induced psychosis and I completely lost my mind.
“I was completely blind and had no vision. Six weeks later my eyes were still bloodshot and my eyes were like this for two months.”
For Dave now, it’s all about spreading awareness.
He added: “I don’t think we’re educated enough about the dangers of these drugs or alcohol.
“We’re told the drugs are illegal but in this day and age no one really pays attention to the law and doesn’t care if it’s illegal.
“I think my story and the pictures in particular show that it’s dangerous and I don’t want cocaine to be so normalised and acceptable in society.”
If you want friendly, confidential advice about drugs, you can call American Addiction Centers on (888) 830-7624 24 hours, seven days a week, or contact them through their website.Featured Image Credit: Kennedy News
Callum Jones
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Published 16:13 12 Nov 2023 GMT
Dietitian issues warning after student documented what happened when he ingested 800mg of caffeine
It was the ‘worst day’ of the student’s life.
A dietician has issued a warning after a TikToker took nearly 800mg of caffeine to find out what happens when you ‘overdose’ on the drug.
A student at Boston College took to TikTok to film himself ingesting a whopping 790mg of caffeine in a bid to figure out what sort of effect a caffeine ‘overdose’ has on your body and mind.
And well, it should be fairly obvious, but definitely don’t try this at home – or anywhere else for that matter.
TikToker documents caffeine ‘overdose’
Credit: TikTok/ @stigma_mino
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Mino – who goes by the username @stigma_mino – took to the platform to document what he later describes as ‘the worst day’ of his life, breaking his caffeine overdose down in ‘five stages,’ starting from between 9-10am when he begins the experiment.
The first stage: ‘Euphoria’. Immediately after consuming 790mg of caffeine – the safe daily intake around 400mg, as per the US Food and Drug Administration – the TikToker reveals he felt high in energy and shared videos of himself at the gym.
The second stage came the ‘pain’ – Mino noting he thought he might ‘seize up’ unless he drunk more water and also feeling like he was ‘gonna puke’.
Unsurprisingly, Mino didn’t just feel sick, but actually ended up vomiting, however stage three led to another bout of ‘euphoria’ after he’d finished his trip to the loo.
TikTok/ @sigma_mino
Stage four saw Mino hit by some ‘spontaneous sadness’, the TikToker coming crashing down from the major caffeine hit.
And last, but not least, was his 1am burst of ‘spontaneous productivity’.
However, he notes: “Jokes aside, please do not try this.
“The ‘spontaneous sadness’ I described was actually somehow the saddest I felt in MONTHS. I genuinely felt so anxious/ dejected it was scary.”
Mino adds his friend who also tried the caffeine experiment ended up having a seizure after taking ‘only 400mg’.
Indeed, a dietician has since weighed in, warning others to never exceed the recommended amount of caffeine.
TikTok/ @sigma_mino
New York registered dietician Sammi Brondo reflected on the TikToker’s video to Insider.
She warns: “You can see in the video how he shifted between different extreme states, many of them negative.
“While caffeine can have positive effects, it’s best to consume gradually and not exceed 400mg per day.”
Brondo adds alongside seizures, overconsumption of caffeine could also lead to stomach problems, anxiety, insomnia and other effects.
The FDA notes you could suffer from jitters, a fast heart rate and ‘a feeling of unhappiness’ too.Featured Image Credit: sigma_mino/TikTok
Topics: Food and Drink, Health, Mental Health, Social Media, TikTok, World News, Drugs
Poppy Bilderbeck
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Published 15:54 23 Mar 2023 GMT
Man became one of the first people in the world to recover from condition that left him ‘locked in his body’
Despite being put in a hospice, his brain somehow came back to life.
Jacob Haendel was a hard drug user in his early days, from opioids to street heroin, he used to party hard following the death of his mum.
Yet his whole world came crashing down when the one-time chef was put in hospital after a suspected stroke.
But bizarrely, his scans actually showed something else.
Jacob Haendel’s recovery story
Credit: YouTube/miraclman31
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Doctors discovered that Jacob’s brain had been ‘locked out of his body’ due to a possible toxin ingested somewhere along the way.
He had developed a very rare condition, which is almost impossible to pronounce – Toxic Acute Progressive Leukoencephalopathy.
It meant that the 28-year-old was pretty much locked in a coffin of his own body.
For six months there was no movement whatsoever and he lay in a care facility, using a machine to keep breathing.
Eventually Jacob was put in a hospice.
“There are only a few dozen people, since the first report in 1982 of the type of brain injury that Jacob experienced,” Dr. Brian Edlow explained to CBS in 2021.
CBS
“You know, by Christmas that year, they actually called us, [saying] ‘It’s over, you know, he’s got a couple of days,'” said Haendel’s stepfather, Eli Wylen.
Remarkably though, after half a year of life support, doctors suddenly spotted a very slight movement in his wrist.
He was alive and conscious…all this time.
After a few weeks he regained the ability to speak, later explaining how he remembered conversations between medical staff who would talk about him being ‘brain dead’.
“There are very few people like Jacob who have ever been described in the medical literature,” Edlow said.
CBS
Edlow said: “To go through all of that, being fully aware and having others not realize it? I can’t even imagine the feeling of isolation, or the sensation of fear that one might experience. It’s truly humbling, to think about how little we understood his brain function at that time.”
Not only could Jacob hear everything, but he felt everything too.
“I was, like, ‘Ugh, this is the worst because I had so many needs and I was in so much pain, and I couldn’t even tell anyone I need help, like, ‘My mouth is dry,’ or like, ‘I’m hungry,’ or ‘I love you,’ or ‘Don’t worry.’ These were the hardest things,” Jacob said.
“I don’t particularly think there’s anything super-special about me per se.
“Anybody has the capacity to do this, if they have the will power.
“I am an improved Jake.
“And I’m a happier Jake. I don’t want to give up.”Featured Image Credit: CBS
