A 20-year-old man who nearly died after taking drugs has pleaded with people on Facebook, “don’t get sucked in”.
Jordy Hurdes is now battling with severe muscle spasms, and called on others to “be the stronger person and say no to the drugs”.
He wants his video – which so far has been viewed over 3 million times – to be shared widely to raise awareness.
Brain damage
Hurdes, who lives in Australia, wrote over the weekend that he had been in hospital for a number of days and might face “a permanent stutter and twitch due to nerve or brain damage”.
He said that taking drugs such as ecstasy “seems like a fun option”, but he urged people not to because they too could face similar traumas.
“If I can get this into at least a couple of people’s heads then I could have saved someone’s life.”
Not worth it
In the video, which shows him shaking and struggling to speak, he says: “Please guys, don’t get sucked in. It all seems like fun and games, a cheap $25 pill, but it’s not worth it.”
Commenting that doctors cannot believe he survived, he says he’s “so grateful” to still be alive.
Explaining that the exhaustion from muscle spasms meant he could not reply to all the messages he’d received, he concluded “once again, thank you everyone, and please, don’t do it, it’s not worth it”.
Awareness
The video has received widespread attention on Facebook, and media outlets around the world have reported on his story.
Yesterday Hurdes wrote on Facebook that the support from people had been amazing. “I’m so glad I have gotten the awareness out and hopefully have saved many people’s lives. I will keep everyone posted with my journey.”
In September the family of a Glasgow teenager who took ecstasy released a video showing the brain damage caused by the drug.
Eye-opener
Amy Thomson collapsed during a party at a house in Glasgow earlier this year – she ended up on life support for close to a month before regaining consciousness.
On a support page for Amy, a cousin wrote: “Some people may have cried, laughed or been shocked seeing the video. But this is what a tiny pill can do to you.
“If this isn’t an eye-opener for everyone who continues to take stuff, I dunno what is.”