Molly Day can't walk after her addiction to “nangs” lead to nitrous oxide poisoning. Video / Nine Network
An Australian teenager may permanently lose her ability to walk after developing an addiction to nangs.
Molly Day, 19, developed the addiction to nitrous oxide after first using the nitrous oxide gas canisters at her end-of-year school celebrations.
The problem began to snowball when she started to use buy-now, pay-later apps to get her fix. She was racking up thousands of dollars in debt in the process.
But two weeks ago it got a lot worse. Her legs started to go numb.
She was confused and concerned about what was happening to her body so drove herself to hospital.
Day bought the gas canisters – typically found in whipped cream cans – using a buy-now-pay-later app and picked them up from tobacconists and convenience stores.
Molly Day can't walk after her addiction to “nangs” lead to nitrous oxide poisoning. Photo / A Current Affair
”[It] felt like I was just getting them for free basically,” she said.
“I didn’t think about the repercussions because I just wanted it so bad.”
She said she first tried inhaling “nangs” at a party a bit over 18 months ago but quickly became addicted.
She was inhaling one to two 1.3-litre canisters every day without anyone noticing her secret addiction.
The metal canisters are typically found alongside balloons. Photo / A Current Affair
Molly realised her addiction was veering out of control when she fell asleep twice while driving a car on the highway.
Her mother Nicky is an emergency nurse and can’t believe she missed all the signs of her daughter falling into addiction.
“She’s crying every night in my arms saying, ‘Why, Mum?’ I said, ‘Well, I tried to tell you Molly but you wouldn’t listen’,” she told A Current Affair.
Now Day finds it impossible to shower, eat or use the toilet without assistance.
The family is calling on the Government to bring forward stricter legislation that prevent teenagers from being able to buy nitrous oxide over the counter.