In a situation that should be the lead example of a “Just Say No” campaign, 44-year-old, South Manchester resident, Ian Higginson reveals that “lumps of flesh fell out of my nose following twenty-five years of cocaine abuse”.
His addiction had become so bad that he could not stop himself from using cocaine despite having tremendous nasal pain. There was a point in time where medics thought that he had cancer due to the constant scabs, sores, and bleeding.
Higginson started using cocaine in his teenaged years and immediately was captured by the chains of the drug. In a Facebook post where he poured his heart out about his addiction and posted pictures and information about the chunks of flesh falling out of his nose, he stated:
“I have posted this because if I can stop a 25-year habit which was more like a jail sentence which nearly cost me my life then so can you. Cocaine has done me no favors at all… it’s only once that you stop to see it for yourself, I spent 80K on cocaine”.
After nearly three decades of abuse, he had an awakening that was able to finally break the chains of self-implemented incarceration. He was finally able to see that he was a slave to it and that he had to stop doing it after he was in the hospital with visible nasal wounds from snorting cocaine, and still sniffing it anyways. He could not stop himself and it was rapidly damaging his health.
His efforts to bring to light the danger of cocaine are certainly eye-opening, his social media posts went on to state “I ended up really poorly in the hospital, they said it was a brain infection and thought there may be cancer, but my nose was too badly destroyed to tell if it was carcinogenic or not.” As chunks of flesh were falling out of his nose, doctors could not determine if the chunks were brain matter or cancer, but they knew that it was really bad.
The nasal cavity was too badly damaged to determine what the actual issue was, but after two biopsies and a collapsed nose, it was revealed that Higginson had an allergy to cocaine that was preventing his nose from healing properly, despite this, he kept on using blow.
Now that Higginson has been clean for a spell he wants to stand up as an activist against the drug that kept him in “prison bars for so many years”. He wants people to know that the addictive drug has the ability to grab people and never let them go.
When people are in its grasp, they do not realize what is happening, it is not until they are free from it that they are able to see and think clearly. Television and movies make it seem pretty glamorous, but one thing is clear, when it comes to cocaine, just say no; just ask Ian Higginson.
