Addiction can ruin lives. It does damage to health, shatters families, and causes anguish and misery. One such case is of a 38-year-old Kelly Kozyra, who was so hooked on cocaine that it damaged her nose, leaving a gaping hole in her face. But even after the struggle, she fought back, and now she uses her experience to alert others.

It is reported by Daily Star News that Kelly Kozyra of Chicago, Illinois, was exposed to cocaine when she went out to a party in 2017. Her friend offered it to her, and she took it out of curiosity. However, what began as an experiment soon became a habit.

Within months, Kelly was using cocaine daily. She neglected sleep, missed meals, and lost control of her life. She spent a whopping Rs 70 lakh ($84,000) on her addiction in 19 months.

Later, Kelly began to develop health problems. Her nose would bleed quite often, and she could see small wounds developing inside. She ignored the signs, however, believing they would heal by themselves.

But it continued to worsen. Flesh was coming out through her nose as well as blood. With the passage of time, the injuries became so grave that she developed a hole in her face. It was horrific and painful.

Realizing that her addiction was killing her health, Kelly's family intervened. They convinced her to quit drugs, and in 2021, she finally quit cocaine for good. But the damage to her nose had already been done, and she required extensive medical treatment.

Since she quit drugs, Kelly has had 15 surgeries to rebuild her nose. Surgeons took skin from her forehead to rebuild the tip of her nose. They also removed an artery from her arm to replace the one in her nose so that blood could flow through her cheek and aid in healing.

The healing process has been long and painful, but Kelly is determined to get back to her normal life.

Kelly now wishes to share her experience with others to caution them against the risks of drug addiction. She wishes that her experience would deter people from getting into the same situation and urge addicted people to get help.

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