'I was watching my son die in front of my eyes'

said she was completely unaware of the dangers of ketamine until the side-effects left her son 'crawling on the floor in absolute agony'

The mother of a young man who became addicted to ketamine has described her horror at watching him go into organ failure before he was saved by hospital staff.

The woman, from Ellesmere Port in Cheshire, said the Class B drug damaged her son's bladder so severely he would be left "crawling on the floor in absolute agony".

She spoke as police warned of rising ketamine use in young people as well as rising rates of users reporting severe and irreversible side effects.

"I've had people say 'leave him to it if you can't get him off it, that's his problem'," she said. "That's my baby boy, that's my firstborn, so to me there's no other option but to be there for him."

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She said she was "completely unaware" of the dangerous effects of long-term ketamine abuse before her son, who she did not want to name, began to suffer serious physical symptoms.

Heavy ketamine abuse can cause a condition known as ketamine bladder which strips away the bladder's lining causing it to shrink, leading to extreme pain and incontinence.

'You can't imagine'

The condition can also put pressure on the kidneys and liver, creating dangerous health problems.

Her son began using the drug recreationally but she believes his poor mental health may have opened the door to heavier use.

"He was using it in his home, obviously in secret, and his levels just went up and up on what he was taking," she said.

"When I found out the situation he became open and honest but it was to the point where he was crawling on the floor in absolute agony to go the toilet, like he couldn't control his bladder and the only way to be out of that pain was to take more.

"I was at a total loss about it."

She described an occasion where her son went into organ failure and was taken to A&E.

"You're watching your son die in front of your eyes and you don't know what to do, you just can't imagine," she said.

Ch Insp Amber Hodson said police are hearing of younger and younger people using the Class B drug

For police in Cheshire, fears are increasing about a generation of children exposed to a drug often seen as less harmful than Class A drugs such as cocaine or heroin.

Ch Insp Amber Hodson said a rise in use is being reflected in young people developing serious physical symptoms.

"When we're going into schools, children and teachers are disclosing the fact that they're seeing more and more of their peers and the students that they're teaching starting to suffer with the effects of ketamine use," she said.

"Obviously the exploitation that goes alongside that, as is the same with other drugs, is also having a real significant impact."

The mother described ketamine as "really cheap and easy to get hold of".

She added: "They're selling it at £5 a bag to make it accessible.

"So you might be thinking, 'I'm giving my son lunch money... actually they're putting it to ketamine'."