This Perth teenager tried ‘nangs’ at leavers. Now she is bedridden in hospital
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A Perth teenager may never walk again because of her near-deadly addiction to laughing gas canisters known as “nangs”.
Molly Day, 19, can no longer walk, eat or shower without her mother’s assistance after becoming indefinitely bedridden in hospital by nitrous oxide poisoning.
She told A Current Affair her addiction to nangs spiralled after she experimented with the behind-the-counter drug during school-leavers celebrations.
Day was soon consuming up to two litres of the gas a day, repeatedly starving her brain of oxygen.
“I got hooked really quickly, and I couldn’t stop. Once I’d finished one, I’d just want more and more and more,” she said.
“Two weeks ago, I was a perfectly healthy walking girl, and now I can’t do anything for myself.
Molly Day can no longer walk, eat or shower without her mother’s assistance after becoming indefinitely bedridden in hospital by nitrous oxide poisoning.Credit: A Current Affair
“I can’t walk, I can’t control anything. It’s so deadly.”
The West Australian government announced new laws to restrict the sale of nitrous oxide gas canisters in October.
The gas – typically used for whipped cream or in pain medication – is now classed as a schedule 6 poison, meaning canisters must include warning labels and sales are restricted to people aged 16 and older.
But Molly’s mother, Nicky Day, said the measures did not go far enough, recalling how she discovered more than 30 three-litre canisters in her daughter’s room before she was admitted to hospital.
“She’s crying every night in my arms, saying, ‘Why mum, why’, and I said, ‘Well we tried to tell you Molly, but you wouldn’t listen’,” she said.
“The government needs to open their eyes, this is not acceptable, this is not acceptable in any way, shape or form that a 16-year-old can still go to the shops and do this.”
Molly said she bought the canisters at smoke shops and convenience stores, paying for them using credit as her addiction worsened.
The Days spoke publicly in the hope Molly’s story would deter other children from trying nangs, which could be sold in larger canisters, or smaller whipped cream canisters.
“Just please, please listen to me, just don’t do it,” Molly said.
“Even if I could save one kid, I want them gone, I want them banned.”
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