"I Spent £300 on Ketamine During a Single Train Ride and Even Had It Delivered to My Hospital Bed—Here’s How I Faced My Lowest Moment"

BY day, Thomas Delaney appeared a thoroughly grounded guy, holding down a busy job as a business development executive.

But by night, the story was very different. His almost-daily use of devastating but common drug , was quietly ravaging his body.

For many years, Thomas was a “highly-functioning addict” appearing capable and pleasant at workCredit: Cover Images He began using cocaine at the age of 17Credit: Cover Images

For 15 years, Thomas was a functioning addict, appearing capable and pleasant at work.

Due to a frightening and unpredictable childhood, he began using cocaine at the age of 17.

Growing up in Ireland with an alcoholic father, he regularly witnessed anger and violence, which left him with deep psychological scars.

To distract himself from feelings of isolation and worthlessness he turned to drugs.

For two or three years he took cocaine regularly, telling himself that because he took Monday and Tuesday off, he couldn’t be an addict.

By day he started to build a life for himself at work.

But by night after leaving the office, he threw himself into the party lifestyle, using cocaine, acid and pills most weekends, in a desperate attempt to try to find a sense of belonging.

Thomas, 38, tells Sun Health: “Then it just became constant all the time. I was using from the moment I woke up to the moment I passed out.”

And it wasn’t long before he discovered party drug .

Off the back of a new report which found since 2014, Thomas has shared his experience of becoming addicted to the class B drug.

Ketamine is a licensed anaesthetic, but its illegal use is increasing among young people drawn to its hallucinogenic qualities.

But chronic use of the drug can lead to organ failure, heart attacks, and even death.

Young Brits , are among many who have lost their lives to ketamine.

In October 2023, Friends actor at the age of 54 due to the “acute effects of ketamine” after high levels were found in his system.

And Drag star in January this year aged 32 of cardiac arrest resulting from the effects of ketamine use.

When Thomas, who lives between and but has also lived in and , first tried ketamine, he was non-plussed.

But soon he grew to love the warm, psychedelic effect it would leave him feeling.

He says: “I started going to these house parties where everyone took ketamine.

I instantly became hooked. It completely made me forget about everything. It completely took me away

Thomas Delaney

“We’d sit down, be stupid, watch films, and I instantly became hooked. It completely made me forget about everything. It completely took me away.”

Ketamine was cheaper than cocaine, easy to get, and for a while it fitted around his very normal working life.

He wasn’t taking drugs at work, and it was easy to mask his chaotic weekends.

But by his late twenties, ketamine had become the centre of everything; he was using up to an ounce a weekend – and that’s when Thomas started to unravel.

EVERYTHING FELL APART

After becoming addicted to ketamine, Thomas started to lose jobs, drift between homes, and eventually began selling to sustain his habitCredit: Cover Images

ONE day, after partying all weekend, he did a line of coke in the toilet at work to try and bring himself around after three days without sleep and collapsed at his desk.

He then started to lose jobs, drifted between homes, and eventually began selling to sustain his own habit.

He says: “To someone that’s addicted to ketamine, selling ketamine sounds like an amazing idea, because you can feed your habit. You don’t have to go to work. Everyone comes to you.”

Then, in 2018, he was made redundant and everything fell apart.

He says: “I viewed my organisation as an extended family. So when I lost that, it reminded me of this feeling of not being good enough. I never felt really loved by my parents, especially my father. I never felt wanted or accepted.

“That was the thing that brought everything back, this feeling of being worthless.”

Alongside the emotional impact of his situation, Thomas says his physical broke down.

I’d spend hours, if not most of my time in the toilet, to the point where I used to have to sit on a towel and stuff if I was driving or sitting down, because I would piss myself

Thomas Delaney

He explains: “Ketamine destroys your bladder, and it can affect your kidneys, as well as your .

“I used to have ket-cramps constantly, which felt awful. The pain is excruciating. You can’t breathe properly. You hyperventilate; I’d be screaming and vomiting.

“I couldn’t stand up to pee. I’d have to sit in the shower and just try. I’d spend hours, if not most of my time in the toilet, to the point where I used to have to sit on a towel and stuff if I was driving or sitting down, because I would piss myself.”

He went to the doctor for help, and his warned him that he would have to have his bladder removed if he didn’t stop taking ketamine.

By this stage he had also lost an extraordinary amount of weight.

His six-foot frame fell to six stone and he was constantly in and out of hospital.

He says: “I was incontinent. I couldn’t stand up straight. I had cramps all the time. I was malnourished. I wasn’t eating. Even to the point that I was ordering ketamine to my hospital bed.”

A lady who dealt ketamine across the road from the hospital would come to his bed to drop it off, and he’d transfer the cash.

He recalls: “Even though I was still in hospital, I still wasn’t stopping using ketamine.

“I was told by doctors that if I didn’t stop taking drugs and I didn’t kill myself through suicide, that I would probably die through malnourishment.

“By that point, I was quite happy to die. I wasn’t scared to die and I thought if I did die, everyone would be better off. That was my lowest point.

“But I was stubborn. I gave myself two choices: I either got better, or I killed myself.”

GET BETTER OR DIE

At the height of his addiction, Thomas suffered ket-crampsCredit: Cover Images He also couldn’t stand up to peeCredit: Cover Images

Thomas got in touch with Recovery Steps Barnsley, a drug support service, and begged to be sent to rehab, explaining it was his only option outside death.

He took a train alone to and on the way, he went through 35 grams in 24 hours.

Thomas woke up the next day and never used drugs or alcohol again.

But rehab was not the clean break people imagine, and he worked hard on his recovery for a year.

He says: “I’d say at least half of the people I was in rehab with are dead. Scotland, in particular Glasgow, is known as the drug capital of . I’ve just lost a very close friend to ketamine use. And the statistics don’t show the real truth. For example, how many suicides are drug-related but instead recorded as suicide?”

Thomas, founder and CEO of social enterprise YouthWISE (@ youthwise.org.uk ), now spends his time speaking in , colleges and , as well as national conferences and wellbeing events across the UK.

He says: “Most young people I mention ketamine to all know what it is, which I find alarming.

“When I went to rehab, no one knew what ketamine was. I had to explain to doctors what it looked like, what it did.”

He links its spread to cost, to lockdown, and to the desire to forget.

Coke costs £40-£60 per gram adulterated, and £70 to £120 unadulterated.

On the street, ketamine is between £10 to £15 a gram. Buying more lowers that price per gram.

He says: “If you want to try and forget about all your problems, ketamine offers an amazing solution to completely disassociate yourself from all reality. And for young people, it’s cheap.”

Thomas with his son Sebastiân, 2Credit: Cover Images Thomas says he loves being a dad to Sebastiân and raising him with his partner, KirstyCredit: Cover Images He now spends time speaking in schools, colleges and universities about drug addiction, as well as national conferences and wellbeing events across the UKCredit: Cover Images Thomas has also just graduated with a first-class honours degree from the University of Glasgow, and is now about to start a master’s degreeCredit: Cover Images

But Thomas warns the statistics underestimate the scale.

He says: “Most people who use ketamine aren’t in treatment and haven’t been in trouble with the law, so they don’t appear in the data.

“We’re only really scratching the surface. You’ll only be able to tell over the next five to ten years what damage it’s doing, especially to young people.”

Now, when he stands on stage in front of students or at conferences, he speaks with the same plainness he used to describe his past.

He says: “I know doctors that use ketamine. I know teachers. I know people with very comfortable lifestyles that are probably middle class and well respected.

“They’re also addicted to drugs. It doesn’t mean they’re horrible people or morally wrong. This is the reality.”

Today, Thomas remains abstinent, having just graduated with a first-class honours degree from the University of Glasgow, and is now about to start a master’s degree.

He loves his work and says being a dad to his two year old son Sebastiân, and lovingly raising him with his partner, Kirsty, has given him a renewed purpose.

He says: “I never thought I’d have a life worth living. Now I do.”