My beautiful 20 year old daughter died after making the wrong choice on a night out with friends – now I’m warning others about this terrible mistake

A devastated mother has begged ministers to reclassify party drug ketamine as Class A, following the harrowing death of her 20-year-old daughter, who was addicted to the drug for two years.

Sophie Russell, from Lincolnshire, first took ketamine – which killed TV star Matthew Perry – in 2021 when it was offered to her on a night out with friends.

But soon she had developed a widespread addiction and was using the drug daily, causing debilitating physical effects including painful abdominal pain and incontinence.

The drug can damage the lining of the bladder, scarring it so much that it shrinks.

Ms. Russell, who worked as a primary school aide, was admitted to an inpatient addiction treatment facility for a week, but was unable to kick the habit long-term.

Her mother, Tracy Marelli, said addiction specialists abandoned her daughter after she was released from the hospital.

“I feel like she has been let down by the entire system. “I begged the drug treatment worker to admit her to rehab before she died,” she said.

In late September, Mrs. Russell traveled to her father’s home to take a bath in an attempt to ease her pain.

Tracy Marelli, 48, said everyone loved her daughter Sophie Russell, who died aged 20 after a ketamine addiction.

Mrs Russell is said to have started using the party drug as a way to cope with the grief she suffered after the death of her grandmother (pictured left).

She went to bed that night and never woke up.

The family is still waiting for toxicology results to determine Sophie’s cause of death.

Mrs Marelli, 48, said of the moment she heard her daughter had died: ‘I screamed and fell to the ground. This drug destroyed her.”

She believes Mrs. Russell first began using ketamine regularly as a method to numb the grief she felt after her grandmother’s death.

“Around mid-November 2021, she started going out with her friends and started taking ketamine while partying, as many young people do,” she said.

‘I didn’t know she was using drugs at all.

‘The first time I knew something was wrong, I kept calling her and she started slurring her words. Some words she couldn’t say. This happened quite often.

‘I think I found out about her drug use when I found powder in her room. I asked her why she did it and she said it takes her away from this world and it’s a happier, better place.

Mrs. Russell was admitted to a rehabilitation center for a week, but treatment failed to combat the addiction.

The drug took its physical toll on Ms. Russell, leaving her with agonizing pain and incontinence.

Now Ms Russell’s mother is calling for a change in the law that would reclassify ketamine as a Class A drug.

“I don’t understand because she was so loved and cared for and had so much to look forward to in life. I just didn’t get it.

‘When I found out what was going on, I told her to stop. We had that conversation, but she clearly couldn’t.

‘She said she went out with her friends, partying, and then she did it alone in her room.

“She went from laughing to taking [it every day] on her own.’

On the implications for physical health, Mrs Russell said: ‘Sophie told me about pains in her stomach and she had hot water bottles all the time. I would take her to the emergency room and then suddenly it would be gone.

‘She was a size 14 when she was 18, and eventually became a size 6 when she passed away. She had lost so much weight.

‘The doctors didn’t seem to think there was anything wrong with it. She had to go to the toilet all the time. She had pull-ups for over a year, she was completely incontinent.’

Ms Marelli said ketamine was “everywhere” in the area where the family lived.

Mrs Marelli, 48, said of the moment she heard her daughter had died: ‘I screamed and fell to the ground. This drug destroyed her.”

‘I remember her saying there were apps to get it. She could order it on her phone and pick it up somewhere.

“She told me one night that she knew she was going to die from this, but she didn’t want to.”

A week before she died, Mrs. Russell went to the local emergency room for help with severe back pain. But instead of noticing signs of her addiction, doctors sent her home with antibiotics to treat a kidney infection.

“She had to be hospitalized,” Ms. Marelli said. “I told them she was addicted to ketamine, but they didn’t ask any questions about it or link anything to it.”

Now Ms Mirelli is calling on the government to reclassify the drug as a Class A substance – it is currently Class B.

“I understand that young people want to experiment, but not with this drug,” she said. ‘It should be Class A. I would say to other people: just don’t do it, it’s not worth the risk.’

In October last year, the world was shocked when Friends star Perry, 54, was found dead in his hot tub at his Los Angeles home.

It turned out that the Chandler Bing actor died from the acute effects of ketamine after taking it to treat depression.

In Britain, ketamine – also called ket or ‘special K’ – is seen by young people as a cheaper alternative to cocaine.