When a picture of Mikaila Thyhurst's drug-ravaged face made headlines four years ago she hoped it would highlight the dangers of so-called party drugs.
The horrifying photograph showed how the once pretty teen’s looks had been ruined after taking then legal drug GBL nearly every day for four years.
Although it almost killed her, she exclusively tells Closer she's now been clean for two years and is finally getting her life back on track.
Speaking as a campaigners say legal highs kill more than 50 people a year, Mikaila shockingly admits: “In four years I was taken to hospital over 1,000 times.
“I was put on a life support machine 15 times and lost all my front teeth after falling onto a pavement while high on GBL.”
Outrageously, Mikaila confesses that at the height of her addiction she even chose the drug over her own daughter, Ellie, now eight.
“Ellie was taken away from me aged 18 months but I didn’t care. I'm ashamed to admit I loved GBL more than her," says Mikaila, who now has regular contact and is hoping to regain full custody this year.”
“I’ll never forgive myself for letting drugs come between me and my daughter.”
Despite the government making GBL - which used to be an ingredient in nail varnish remover pads - illegal in 2011, it can still be bought online, as a cheap industrial cleaner. In less than a minute, Closer found a number of websites selling the liquid, which gives users a feeling of euphoria.
But GBL can lead to severe liver damage as the body struggles to get rid of the potent toxins and in some cases, even small amounts can result in coma or death.
“Young people don’t realise how easy it is to get hooked - once you’ve got a taste for it there’s no going back,” says Mikaila.
“Only 11 per cent of my liver functions now and I’m waiting to find out if I need a transplant. But even with a new liver my life expectancy has been cut by ten years. I look older too, I don't look like a girl in my 20s. I'm lucky I'm not dead.”
She adds: “My daughter says to me: ‘Mummy’s not a bad girl any more’. It breaks my heart to think how badly I treated her."
Mikaila – who grew up in Burnley with mum Tracey - first tried GBL when she was 19 after a friend said it’d help her deal with the stress she was suffering six months after becoming a mum.
“My friend said I needed cheering up,” explains Mikaila – who'd never tried drugs before.
“I was struggling with Ellie because she wasn’t sleeping, and I felt depressed so I tried it. We squeezed the liquid out of nail varnish remover pads and mixed it with fruit juice to taste nicer.
“My stress melted away but an hour later I was shaking and being sick. I took more to feel better.”
Within a week Mikaila – who quit her job as a sales assistant after becoming a mum – started taking GBL from nail varnish remover pads up to 15 times a day.
“I'd feed and change Ellie but then I’d ignore her," she says. "All I wanted was my next fix.”
A year later Ellie was put into the care of Mikaila’s mum.
“I’d managed to hide my addiction from my family, but a neighbour called social services because they realised I was taking GBL. Mum begged me to stop for the sake of Ellie but I couldn’t.
“Luckily the courts granted mum a residency order, so Ellie stayed with her and I was allowed see her under supervision.”
Mikaila’s addiction spiralled and she was soon hospitalized on a weekly basis.
She says: “I’ve lost count of the amount of times I’ve gone into cardiac arrest. I’d spend every penny I had on the nail varnish remover and if I ran out of cash, I’d shoplift them.
“I wouldn’t eat for days and my skin became spotty and bloated. I looked awful but didn’t care.”
In September 2009, Mikaila attempted to get help for the first time by contacting a local newspaper and asking them to publish her picture.
She says: “I didn’t want to talk to a doctor as I didn't think they'd be able to do anything. I thought drugs charities might offer to help if I appeared in a newspaper and I wanted to deter other people from doing it."
Mikaila entered rehab two weeks later after a drug charity offered her help but dropped out after two days.
She adds: “I had diarrhea and sickness constantly, because I was going cold turkey, and was doubled over in pain. I knew GBL would make me feel better, so I ran away to get my habit back.”
And even after GBL was made illegal, and all major shops recalled the nail varnish removal pads with the GBL ingredient, Mikaila still managed to find them in smaller shops.
Then Mikaila - who started drinking heavily when she struggled to get hold of GBL – was told that her liver has been massively damaged leaving it with almost 90 per cent scar tissue.
“Doctors warned me if did GBL or drank alcohol again, I'd be dead.”
She was referred to a detox program in sheltered accommodation, near to her mum’s house, in Manchester, where she managed to overcome her addiction and get her life back on track.
Now, Mikaila – who takes a cocktail of medication to flush out toxins from her damaged liver - is grateful she’s been given a second chance.
She says: “I've turned my life around but I’ll never be able to repair the damage to my liver. I’m waiting to find out whether I qualify for a liver transplant but I’ve been told I’ve reduced my life expectancy by ten years, which is terrifying.”
And single Mikaila – who plans to work as a drug and alcohol counsellor - hopes to have daughter Ellie living with her this year.
She says: “I missed the most precious years of my baby’s life but I’m determined to make it up to her."