A 23-year-old woman from Walton who battled a severe ketamine addiction was taking up to 40 lines a day before finally stopping after passing a "golf-ball-sized chunk" of tissue from her bladder. Her mother, Angela Taylor, 58, said her daughter Megan had become so unwell that she "looked like a skeleton", with her weight plummeting to just four stone at the height of her addiction.
It got so bad that Megan was spending tens of thousands of pounds a year on the white powdered drug. In 2024, while Megan was at the peak of her use, Angela was so fearful that she began making arrangements for her daughter's funeral.
Mum's fear and funeral planning
Angela, a mum-of-two from Walton, said: "I could see every bone in her body she was that thin. I was so worried at one point I was planning her funeral alongside my husband's Billy, who at the time was suffering with terminal cancer."
"The situation was just horrendous. I was thinking about locations and who to invite. Billy was heartbroken by the fact she might die before him. I am so proud of her, as it was her who decided to come clean - I just helped her through the process."
Megan said: "I was in so much pain and I knew I was killing myself, but I didn't want to stop as it was all I thought about 24/7. I would lie in my bed in my own urine as I couldn't control when I needed the toilet."
"Not even seeing chunks of my organs stopped me until it got too much. By the end I would cry while sniffing. It wasn't even doing anything to me. I didn't feel a high, it was just a routine. I'm proud of myself for coming off it. Just thinking back to how I was at my worst makes me never want to touch it again."
Addiction spiral and physical toll
Megan first tried the drug aged 18 at a house party. She had gone through trauma after losing both of her grandparents in 2018 and 2019. In 2021, her world fell apart when she learned her dad Billy had been diagnosed with cancer and her auntie was seriously ill.
She said: "I was dead against drugs my whole life, but I guess I was feeling vulnerable and I decided to take it."
Ketamine is a synthetic drug commonly used in medical and veterinary practice as a general anaesthetic. When used recreationally, it is dissociative and can have terrible side effects, including damage to the urinary tract, liver, kidneys, bowels, and brain, resulting in memory loss.
Megan only took the drug a couple of times a month, whenever she was out with her friends, but her addiction soon spiralled and she spent more money chasing the 30-minute high. Her parents would lend her money, unaware that she was using it to buy ketamine, an illegal class B drug which can land users a five-year prison sentence or unlimited fine for possession.
By the start of 2023, Megan began sniffing up to 40 times a day. She said: "A two-gram bag which was £30, would last me around 14 hours and a four-gram bag which was £50 would last around 36 hours."
In December 2022, she began getting chest pains, which she described as a "knife in the middle of your chest being slowly pulled out and it scraping against your rib cage". She also began passing chunks of the lining of her bladder, and whenever she would wipe, there would be blood. Her bladder felt like it was "being ripped open and having boiling water pouring into it" and urinating felt like "passing broken glass".
Before taking the drug, Megan weighed 10 stone, but she slowly lost weight until she only weighed four stone. Her water bottle began burning her skin due to constant use.
Turning point and recovery
Angela only found out in May 2023 after noticing a ket-bag in Megan's sock when she was lying on the couch downstairs. She tried to persuade her to stop, but Megan continued for two more years.
Megan only decided to stop after she passed a black golf ball-sized chunk of her bladder in May 2025. She had started attending a recovery group called Lifeboat Recovery Community Hub, in Kirkdale, the same year. She was given a week-long detox through charity CGL (Change, Grow, Live), which she started on July 30 last year.
Megan was later told by doctors that she would only have had four months to live if she didn't stop when she did. Megan is now one year sober and thriving. Angela said her daughter's skin "now glows".
Megan said her bladder has since started to heal itself as she can now go up to three hours without needing the loo. She has fallen back in love with the things she used to love as a teen, including football and music. Megan even recently attended the Homeless World Cup in Poland, where she represented England.
Her advice to those currently struggling with a ketamine addiction is to "not be scared to speak out". She currently runs a session at LifeBoat where she helps spread awareness of ketamine addiction. Megan also helps run the 12 to 17-year-old session.
