A 26-year-old man from Scunthorpe whose struggle with ketamine left him hospitalised with liver and kidney failure has shared his life-saving story for Recovery Month.
Tom Kirk was told in March 2024 that his bladder, kidneys and liver were functioning at 20% after six years of taking ketamine. Doctors warned him that he would die if he kept taking the drug.
‘My grandma was worrying about having to go to my funeral,’ Tom said. ‘I was sitting there thinking that no 25-year-old should be in hospital, unable to walk like that because of drugs.’
Having first taken the drug at Creamfields festival in 2018, Tom began to struggle during the Covid lockdowns. When he returned to work, he was spending £50 daily on ketamine – taking it before work, during breaks, at lunch, and after work. When he was made redundant, his use of ketamine increased.
‘I’d try to go to sleep but I’d get up to go to the toilet every 20 minutes,’ he said. ‘I was in excruciating pain for hours and hours, sat in the shower – before going back into my room to take more ketamine.
‘Ketamine was this escapism, it was escapism from reality. And I feel like that’s a big thing for people, especially people with poor mental health, it takes them away from the world they’re in.’
The physical toll was devastating. The tubes from his kidneys to his bladder were blocked up with an infection and inflammation – nothing could pass through. He was bed-bound for two months, with nephrostomy bags in his back to help him urinate, because ketamine had damaged and shrunk his bladder.
But Tom’s story doesn’t end there. Through charity WithYou’s support, he secured three months in rehab, and then began attending group sessions at partner organisation, Double Impact.
Today, he works for Double Impact, runs a weekly ketamine group, contributes to Lincolnshire council’s ketamine research team, and next year will be going national with his ketamine research.
Tom’s story highlights a growing problem – ketamine cases among WithYou’s young clients rose from under 10% in 2019/20, to 23% in 2024/25. His recovery work is now about helping others like him.
‘People are struggling and they’re young people – I’m talking 16-18 year olds,’ said Tom, who wants to take his work nationwide. ‘I try and tell my story to share where I’ve been and where I’m at now. A lot of people ask me how to get help. This place is a godsend. Without this I would have been lost.
‘It took me being in hospital for a month to get help. I was screaming for help but I didn’t really want to change. I wanted help but just didn’t want to do anything for it. I wanted it to be given to me.
‘Recovery is far from easy. That’s why these groups are so good – these people have the same goals but come from completely different backgrounds.’
For Recovery Month, Tom’s message is clear: ‘I nearly died. I wish I’d known that there is a way out. If my story helps one person get help sooner, it’s worth telling.’