A man from Salisbury in Wiltshire ended up in a coma with “devil eyes” after a five-day cocaine bender.
In 2021, Dave Mullen experienced drug-induced psychosis and nearly lost his life.
The drugs left his eyes so bloodshot that, months later, while working at a care home an elderly resident chased him with a bible, convinced he was the devil.
He recounted the episode before describing his symptoms:
“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,” he explained to the Daily Mail. “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.”
Mullen first tried cocaine at 17 and was 19 when he slipped into a coma in the ICU.
He spoke with the Daily Mail about how his drug use began and escalated.
“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 told the outlet.
His first exposure happened at his 17th birthday in a pub, and the drug became a regular part of his life.
“At 19, I noticed it had become an addiction,” he admitted. “It was clear not only to me but [to] my friends and people around that I had a bit of a problem with it.”
The habit worsened over the years, damaging relationships and his mental health while pushing him to use more as an escape.
“It’s a difficult one as I always found a way that I could put myself in a situation where I could get it [cocaine] for free or for very cheap, but the amount I would do would be thousands of pounds worth,” he admitted to the Daily Mail.
You might think the coma would have been a turning point, but addiction proved relentless.
It took until 2024, when doctors warned he was going to die, for him to decide to stop for good.
Walking out of the hospital alone forced him to confront the mental hell he had been living in.
Only he could save himself — and he did.
“Fifteen months later, and I’m here and I have a TikTok account and I still haven’t looked back,” he told the outlet. “I feel completely reborn, and I’m now excited for my future.”
Mullen now uses TikTok to warn others about the dangers of cocaine and addiction.
He says young people do not receive enough meaningful education about drugs and alcohol.
“I this day and age, no one really pays attention to the law and doesn’t care if it’s illegal,” Mullen said. “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.”