A doctor has revealed what taking six grams of ketamine every day can do to the body after former adult industry star Emily Willis was left with locked-in syndrome.
Willis, 26, (real name Litzy Lara Banuelos) has been unable to move her body except for her eyes after a cardiac arrest at a rehab centre in February 2024.
This is because it left her starved of oxygen for a long period of time, causing her to become ‘permanently disabled’.
Her family provided an update on her health in May after the incident occurred, saying she had come out of a ‘vegetative coma’.
Emily Willis suffered a cardiac arrest last year (Instagram/@ emilywillisx3)
Her family wrote on a fundraiser: “Recently, Emily’s world, and ours, was turned upside down when she was admitted to the hospital, marking the beginning of an incredibly tough and unforeseen battle.”
Sadly, Willis’ condition means that she can only move her eyes and is essentially paralysed.
It happened after she had been admitted to the Malibu rehab centre in January 2024.
According to a new lawsuit brought forward by the family, she experienced a cardiac arrest and fell into a ‘vegetative coma’.
However, it alleges Willis had suffered ‘permanent physical and mental incapacity’, and accuses the facility of the ‘abuse of a dependent adult, professional negligence, negligence and fraudulent business practices’.
The lawsuit states that Willis was admitted to the rehab centre ingesting ‘five to six grams [of ketamine] per day for a year’.
According to the lawsuit, Willis was found unconscious after she was admitted to rehab, and that nurses and paramedics performed CPR for 30 to 40 minutes until they restored her heartbeat.
Willis now suffers from locked-in syndrome (Instagram/@ emilywillisx3)
However, she now suffers from locked-in syndrome, a rare neurological condition which stops her from being able to move or speak.
Filed in Los Angeles Superior Court, her family believe that she had not received proper care during her stay.
She had also previously been diagnosed with mental health issues, including major depressive disorder, generalized anxiety disorder, and post-traumatic stress disorder.
How does taking six grams of ketamine a day affect the body?
Dr Suzanne Wylie, GP and medical adviser for IQdoctor, spoke to UNILAD about the impact of taking a constant stream of ketamine can have on the body.
Dr Wylie said that while the anaesthetic has both medical and recreational uses, it can have ‘significant and potentially irreversible effects on both physical and mental health’ if taken in excess over a prolonged period of time.
The bladder
She explained that excessive ketamine use can cause ‘severe’ damage to the bladder.
This is known as ketamine-induced cystitis.
She took excessive amounts of ketamine (Instagram/@ emilywillisx3)
“This can cause intense pain, urinary frequency, incontinence, and, in some cases, permanent damage requiring surgical intervention,” the doctor said.
Stomach issues
It can also cause frequent experience of nausea, abdominal pain, and a condition sometimes referred to as ‘K cramps’.
For those who suffer with this, it can make eating and digestion painful.
Liver, kidneys, heart and lungs
Also, due to the toxicity and organ dysfunction caused by prolonged ketamine use, liver and kidney function are hindered.
Ian Budd, pharmacist and medical adviser for Chemist4U, added: “The kidneys also suffer, as ketamine strains their ability to filter toxins, increasing the risk of infections and kidney failure. Similarly, the liver, which processes the drug, can become inflamed and scarred, reducing its ability to function properly.”
He said that chronic ketamine use can weaken the heart and lungs by raising blood pressure and heart rate.
Some who take ketamine in excess can experience breathing difficulties, particularly if they mix ketamine with other drugs like alcohol, Budd explained.
Cognitive issues
Dr Wylie went on to share that chronic ketamine use deteriorate a person’s cognitive abilities.
It left her paralysed (Instagram/@ emilywillisx3)
She said: “Dependence and tolerance can develop, leading to escalating use and an increased risk of psychiatric conditions such as depression, anxiety, and psychosis.
“Some users also report experiencing persistent dissociative symptoms or hallucinatory episodes even when not using the drug.”
According to Budd, it can also cause confusion, paranoia and mood swings.
“Over time, ketamine users may struggle to concentrate, process information or even feel connected to reality,” he said.
But it can also impact people’s wellbeing and their relationships.
“Given the serious health risks associated with such high levels of consumption, it is crucial that individuals struggling with ketamine dependence seek professional medical support as soon as possible,” Dr Wylie said.
LADbible Group has previously contacted Summit Malibu, the parent company of the facility, for comment.
Featured Image Credit: Unique Nicole/Getty Images
Britt Jones
‘Locked-in syndrome’ explained as Emily Willis left ‘permanently disabled’ after cardiac arrest at rehab centre
Emily Willis was ‘found unconscious’ at a rehab centre last year
Former adult star Emily Willis was left ‘permanently disabled’ and suffering from ‘locked-in syndrome’ after an incident at a rehab centre last year.
According to her family, Willis – real name Litzy Lara Banuelos – has been unable to move her body except for her eyes after a cardiac arrest left her starved of oxygen for a long period of time.
Her family provided an update on her health in May of last year, saying she had come out of a ‘vegetative coma’.
Her family wrote on a fundraiser: “Recently, Emily’s world, and ours, was turned upside down when she was admitted to the hospital, marking the beginning of an incredibly tough and unforeseen battle.
Emily Willis suffered a cardiac arrest last year (Instagram/@ emilywillisx3)
“With every ounce of her remarkable strength and bravery, Emily is fighting.”
Her family recently filed a lawsuit with the Los Angeles Superior Court against Summit Malibu and its parent company Malibu Lighthouse Treatment Centers, LLC, as they have made allegations of ‘abuse of a dependent adult, professional negligence, negligence and fraudulent business practices’.
The documents claim that Willis was admitted to the rehab centre on 27 January 2024 for a ketamine addiction.
However, after arriving there, the documents claim that Willis’ condition worsened as she began to suffer from an increased heart rate, hot/cold chills, tremors, headaches, feeling ‘disorientated’, difficulty walking, and also vaginal pain.
But it was after a nurse was unable to take her blood pressure due to ‘dehydration’, and she was allegedly failed to be taken to hospital on 3 February that she was ‘found unconscious’.
It left her paralysed (Instagram/@ emilywillisx3)
While paramedics administered CPR for between 30 and 40 minutes until her heartbeat was restored, the lawsuit claims that Willis was without oxygen for a long time and suffered ‘irreversible brain damage’.
Now, she is in a ‘vegetative state’ where she is conscious but cannot speak and can only move her eyes in what is known as locked-in syndrome.
What is locked-in syndrome?
As per the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, locked-in syndrome is a ‘rare disorder of the nervous system’.
Programme Lead for Medical Science at the University of Chester in the UK, Dr Gareth Nye, told the Daily Star: “What we are seeing here is the damage to the brain following a lack of oxygen after the cardiac arrest.
“It is encouraging to see that she seems to be conscious, recognises people and can track with her eyes. However, it is highly likely she is suffering from a condition called locked-in syndrome.”
Willis now suffers from locked-in syndrome (Instagram/@ emilywillisx3)
Those with the syndrome may experience being ‘paralyzed except for the muscles that control eye movement’ or being conscious ‘and can think and reason, but cannot move or speak; although they may be able to communicate with blinking eye movements’.
What causes locked-in syndrome?
Causes of locked-in syndrome could be due to a traumatic brain injury (TBI), any diseases of the circulatory system, diseases that destroy the myelin sheath, or a medication overdose.
There is no known treatment or cure for locked-in syndrome at present, and according to Brain and Spinal Cord, ‘it is incredibly unusual for someone with locked-in syndrome to make a significant recovery of motor function, although there are a handful of documented cases.’
Treatment for locked-in syndrome helps to make the patient more comfortable, and may also provide them with eye-tracking devices so that they can communicate.
“No patient should ever be subjected to such a horrendous breakdown in clinical care. Her health was ignored until it was too late, and now her life is forever changed,” the lawsuit claims.
“We hope this lawsuit will spur real change in how treatment centers handle critical cases. Too many patients who should be receiving life-saving interventions are being lost to negligence.”
LADbible Group has contacted Summit Malibu for comment.
Featured Image Credit: Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Images
Topics: Health
Britt Jones
Man left permanently disabled with ‘dinosaur hands’ after inhaling up to 500 laughing gas balloons a week
He’s urged kids to ‘stay off balloons’
A man has admitted that laughing gas has ‘ruined his life’ after inhaling up to 500 balloons a week left him permanently disabled.
Connor Wilton, 27, from Derbyshire, UK, is now in a ‘wheelchair and crutches’ after he was found by his father ‘collapsed’ on the floor in November 2022.
Admitting that he had been ‘abusing’ laughing gas for years, Connor was rushed to hospital where doctors gave him a horror diagnosis.
Due to severe nerve damage, vitamin B12 deficiency and subacute degeneration of the spinal cord from nitrous oxide use, the 27-year-old was left paralysed and spent three months in a hospital bed and four months in a neuro rehabilitation unit.
Connor Wilton admitted to ‘abusing’ laughing gas for years (Kennedy News and Media)
In hospital, Connor’s hands had little muscle control, resulting in them bending like ‘dinosaur hands’, and he was forced to wear a nappy for the first five months.
The former mental health rehabilitation worker was told that he ‘never be able to stand up straight’ again and now takes up to 30 tablets a day.
His laughing gas habit began when he was 18 on a lads holiday, and Connor started to consume up to 480 balloons containing the illegal drug every weekend.
He said: “I was abusing it for years. Not badly. I did it socially at weekends and when I went to Kavos and stuff like that.
“During October 2022 I was smashing it every weekend. I started to be sick all the time. I didn’t think it was to do with nitrous oxide to be honest. I was quite naive.
“Then I started to get tingly feet. One day my dad found me collapsed on the floor from smashing laughing gas.
“I couldn’t feel my legs properly. I was moaning about not being able to wee. I couldn’t wee for six days. It’s because my nerves and muscles had failed on my bottom half.”
He now doesn’t know if he’s ‘going to s**t’ himself in public (Kennedy News and Media)
He confessed: “It was absolutely horrible. I couldn’t control my muscles. My hands were starting to bend like little dinosaur hands. I couldn’t pick up my phone properly.
“My bowels failed and I kept sh***ing myself. I was really psychotic for 10 days.
“I had a catheter for five months. I had to wear a nappy for five months and I was in 24/7 bed care. I spent two full months hoisted. I couldn’t feel or move my legs. My hands slowly started to get better.
“I was hoisted into a chair out of my bed everyday. I was bed bound for ten weeks. I didn’t stand up until the week before Christmas with help from two workers.
“I had a nerve conduction study. It was quite a lengthy process for finding out what was happening. The doctors knew it was from balloons but not what damage it had done.
“The nitrous oxide took all the B12 out of my body and starved my body of oxygen so I was having vitamin B12 injected into my legs every two days for three months.
Connor said nitrous oxide use is ‘not worth the risk’ (Kennedy News and Media)
“Now I have to have it once every three months. Still to this day I’m between a wheelchair and crutches.
“The amount of nerves I’ve damaged, some are too far gone and will never repair. I will never be able to stand up straight. I’ve got 35 degree drop feet.
“My legs spasm a lot. I get a lot of pain first thing in the morning. The muscles lock in my leg. I scream in pain.
“My bowels still don’t work. I don’t even know if I’m going to s**t myself in public.
“I’m quite independent now but I’m on crutches all the time. I have an adaptive car, which I drive with my hands.”
Connor said he would ‘never do it again’ and that ‘it’s not worth being like this’.
Nitrous Oxide became illegal in the UK in November 2023.
Featured Image Credit: Kennedy News and Media
