Carl Ayres was an ex marine who was in the peak of health when he decided to take cocaine at a New Years Eve party. He could never of expected the severity of the reaction that hit him the next day. The twenty eight year old had a cataclysmic stroke which left him in a coma on a life support machine.
Now his mother has offered a stark warning to others who are thinking of taking the drug. ‘My son took cocaine at a party – now I have to wipe his bottom’
Carls reaction to the drug wasn’t immediate, it wasn’t until the next day when he went for a run that his body effectively shut down. He went for a five mile run and as a result a blood clot formed that went to his brain. He was on deaths door and there was a debate to whether to shut down his life support machine. Thankfully the doctors and family decided not to proceed with that course of action and Carl survived.
However he has been left unable to walk or talk and his mum has had to become part of his care team. She said: ‘It’s absolutely heartbreaking.
‘He was so active and full of life. He ran his own business. Now I wipe his bum.’
She added: ‘Some days I don’t want to get out of bed. But I always do. I always act cheerful around him. Then when I come out [from visiting him] I break down. I can’t stand to see how he is. Honestly, I don’t think he will get back to normal.’
When Carl eventually woke up from his coma he pointed to his nose to indicate that he had taken cocaine. Doctors then ran tests and found the drug in his system. The doctors are adamant that it was the cocaine and the substance it was cut with that almost killed Carl.
This is what Carl looked like before his stroke:
Mr Ayres is now in a rehabilitation centre in Southampton where his mother visits him every day and helps with his rehab. Carl is determined to defy the doctors treating him and walk again. But his mother is concerned that he will have to lower his expectations.
She said: ‘I live in a fantasy world that he will come bouncing through the door,’ she admitted. ‘That’s not going to happen.
‘But he is so determined. He typed out, “If it takes me 10 years, I will walk.” He has got a lot to accept.’
Mrs Ayres is determined that others should not suffer the same fate as her son. She wants people to realise how dangerous cocaine is and how drastically its changed her family.
‘If I can get one other person to realise how it’s affected my family and Carl than going public has to be worth it,’ she said.
‘People think it won’t happen to them. Carl is proof it can. But I still see people in Farnborough taking cocaine. How close to home do they need it to happen?’
We wish Carl all the best in his recovery and hope that his dream of walking becomes true.
