Nitrous oxide: Laughing gas overdose left woman unable to walk

A 25-year-old said taking excessively overmuch laughing state near her incapable to locomotion and enactment her successful infirmary for six weeks.

Mollie, from Caerphilly, said doctors recovered inflammation connected her spinal cord and encephalon harm from the drug, which is besides known arsenic nitrous oxide.

Nitrous oxide, sold successful metallic canisters, is 1 of the most-used drugs by UK 16 to 24-year-olds.

The instrumentality makes production, proviso and importation of nitrous oxide for quality depletion illegal, but until present it has been ineligible to person the cannisters.

Mollie, who did not privation to stock her surname, thinks the prohibition is simply a bully idea.

She recovered herself unsocial and isolated during the Covid pandemic and, to woody with her deteriorating intelligence health, she began buying laughing gas.

"I was buying 10 boxes a week, and each container contained 24 cannisters," she said.

"I started getting pins and needles successful my hands and feet, and I was fitting.

"Part of maine was successful denial astatine it being linked to laughing gas."

After a mates months, Mollie was connected her mode to enactment successful a section store erstwhile she recovered herself incapable to walk.

In hospital, doctors discovered she had inflammation connected her spinal cord and "massive nervus damage" from "starving" her encephalon of oxygen.

"It was 1 of the doctors who said, 'do you usage laughing gas?' And I said 'constantly'," she recalled.

Doctors told Mollie's parents she whitethorn ne'er locomotion again, leaving her "petrified".

The cause tin harm the tense strategy by interfering with the metabolism of vitamin B12. This damages a protective furniture connected nerves, typically those successful the rear of the spine.

Mollie spent six weeks successful rehabilitation and has present recovered, but inactive has pins and needles successful her hands and feet.

"I utilized to beryllium a large runner and utilized to creation and present I can't bash those things," she said.

The acquisition inspired her to bid to go a nurse.

"When I was successful infirmary I was speaking to idiosyncratic and they said I had a large mannerism for [nursing]," she said.

"That was astir apt the champion happening to travel retired of it all."

Speaking to BBC Radio Wales, Martin Blakeborough, main enforcement of the cause and intoxicant foundation Kaleidoscope, said the prohibition volition not halt radical from utilizing the cause and concern successful younker services was needed.

"If we privation to woody with anti-social behaviour successful young people, firstly springiness them thing to do, springiness them a harmless spot to spell and that volition really determination them distant from the information of drugs."