'I had a place at a top university but tried cocaine and my life gravely changed'

A woman who became addicted to cocaine - and contemplated taking her life - has issued a dire warning to drug users.

Camilla Collins, 37, dropped out of university amid her addiction as she couldn't go a day without the drug. She had hopes of forging a career in the arts but, after she quit university, Camilla "barely recognised herself" during her slippery slope. The young woman lost all her friends and family as a result.

And, aged around 19 or 20, Camilla reached such "a dark place" she considered suicide, but found the courage to tell her mother everything and beg for help. She spent one month at a rehabilitation centre near Southgate, north London and attended Narcotics Anonymous meetings to slowly get her life back on track.

Speaking today about her journey, Camilla has warned others about the dangers of cocaine. Campaigners have revealed deaths from cocaine have soared to a record high in the UK, amid complaints "doing a line is a common as having a pint".

Camilla, who now works as a life coach, said: "Addicts will carry a significantly heavy weight of shame which makes it even harder to ask for help but it’s so important that you do because cocaine addiction is rarely something you will be able to tackle on your own... It will kill you. If not directly through the substance itself, indirectly through the chemical imbalance in your brain which will make you do dangerous things and/or severely depressed which leads to suicide."

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The young woman dropped out of University of the Arts London, which is near King's Cross, within two years of trying cocaine for the first time. It had got to the point Camilla "couldn't go out without it" and it became a problem. She told Mail Online she alienated friends and became a "shell of herself".

When she was at a drinks reception on a rooftop bar at a plush central London hotel with her mother, Camilla contemplated her options - as she recognised she was "in a dark place." The life coach added: "I didn't have any coke or anything but I remember looking through the windows and thinking 'what if? What if I just fell?'

"And it was so lovely to be up there and it should be beautiful but I just felt like I was in such a dark place. I would never ever be able to feel joy again or anything and I just thought 'If only I could get through the door, what a relief it would be to just jump off.'"

This proved to the turning point for Camilla, who confessed everything to her mum. She helped her daughter get support at The Priory, a rehab clinic in the capital, and the woman attended Narcotics Anonymous meetings. However, the path to recovery wasn't easy and Camilla, who has since special effects make-up artist, has relapsed several times.

Cocaine-related deaths in the UK hit a record high in 2024. Camilla is driven to help people, though, through her life coaching programmes. She warned: "The first line of cocaine is already a step too far."

Deaths related to cocaine usage have risen by 30 per cent since the early 1990s and fatalities were almost ten times higher in 2023 than they were just a decade earlier in 2003.

The Samaritans is available 24/7 if you need to talk. You can contact them for free by calling 116 123, email jo@samaritans.org or head to the website to find your nearest branch. You matter.