Kaylee Muthart has permanently lost her eyesight after she gouged her own eyes out when she was under the influence of methamphetamine.
Now, she is sharing the story of her ordeal, how she is adjusting to being blind, and how her life has become more beautiful after her experience.
Eyes Gouged Out For 'Sacrifice'
Last Feb. 6, 20-year-old Kaylee Muthart was found gouging her own eyes out outside a South Carolina church. In her delirium, she initially fought off help from locals but was eventually restrained by a team of responders. Unfortunately, it was already too late to restore her eyesight by the time she got the medical attention she needed.
Evidently, Muthart was under the influence of methamphetamine when the incident happened, and she was having hallucinations about her faith. According to Muthart, she believed that everyone who had died was stuck in their graves, that God was alone in Heaven, and that in order to release everyone into Heaven, she had to sacrifice something important. In her delirium, that "sacrifice" turned out to be her eyes, and for it, she lost her sight.
Straight-A Student Turned Drug Dependent
In an article, Muthart tells the story of how she turned from a straight-A student into a drug dependent young woman in just a few years. Before her battle with drugs, Muthart was in the National Honor Society. However, she decided to leave school right in the middle of 11th grade at age 17 because she did not want to tarnish her academic records as a result of missing her school days due to heart arrhythmia and work.
By the time she was 18, she started smoking pot and drinking socially, and she suspected that perhaps she was more prone to addiction due to her family history. When she was 19, she smoked marijuana, which left her with a particularly strange high and as a religious Christian, made her feel as though she was closer to God.
However, she later realized that the marijuana she smoked was likely laced with methamphetamine or cocaine. She immediately distanced herself from the friend who had supplied her the marijuana. Amid the problems she was having in her personal life, she continued to smoke marijuana and drink alcohol, but soon looked for the peace she felt with the laced marijuana.
In August of 2017, she decided to try methamphetamine but steered clear of it for a while when she saw a video of herself while under the influence. However, she soon returned to using the substance.
She kept on convincing her mother that she had everything under control and her mother, in turn, could not have her committed to a facility because she did not have proof that her daughter was a danger to herself despite having obvious mental health and addiction issues.
By February of 2018, her mother had taken a video of their conversation and scheduled Kaylee to finally be committed to a rehabilitation center. Just days before her scheduled commitment, she took a larger dose of meth than she had ever used in the past and ended up taking out her own eyes with her bare hands.
'I'd Rather Be Blind Than Dependent On Drugs'
After a week of recuperation from her injuries and about a month in a rehabilitation facility, Muthart finally got to go home and adjust to her new life. Amazingly, she remains optimistic about the life she now lives and is still eager to fulfill the dream she had before her drug dependence - to become a marine biologist, although she knows it will now be harder to fulfill.
In addition to her therapy for the drug dependence, she also joined a new church and is undergoing therapy to help her train with a cane. Her mother also set up a GoFundMe page in order to help them have enough funds to get her a seeing-eye dog.
She admits that she does get upset about her situation. She, however, remains positive in outlook and grateful that she has gotten back on a path without drugs, saying that she would rather be blind than dependent on drugs.
"It took losing my sight to get me back on the right path, but from the bottom of my heart, I'm so glad I'm here," said Muthart.
