Girl who gouged out eyes while high on Crystal Meth says life is 'more beautiful' now

The 20-year-old says it took losing her eyesight to get her on the right path

A young woman who blinded herself while high on crystal meth has spoken about the experience as a warning to others about the perils of drugs.

Last month, Kaylee Muthart, from Anderson, South Carolina made headlines when she was rushed to the hospital after she was found tearing her own eyes out in front of a church, in what she thought at the time was a sacrifice to God.

Now, completely blind but drug-free, the 20-year-old says “life is more beautiful now" - but only because she's kicked her drug habit.

Speaking to Cosmopolitan, the former drug addict, who also suffers from mental health issues, describes the horrific ordeal that occured on February 6 - when her world “went black.”

After months of struggling with drug addiction, Muthart, 20, had promised her mother, Katy Tompkins, that she would attend rehab.

Tompkins recorded their conversation so she could get a court to issue a court order that would make rehab for her daughter mandatory.

But just one week before Muthart was supposed to leave for the rehabilitation centre, she bought meth from her drug dealer and took a larger dose than she had ever taken before.

The next morning, according to Muthart, whose memory of the incident is “fuzzy,” she thought everything would end and everyone would die if she didn’t “tear out my eyes immediately.”

Passerby found Muthart shortly after with her eyeballs in her hands after gouging them out. According to the people who saved her life, she was screaming “I want to see the light!” and tried to fight them off.

The 20-year-old was rushed to Greenville Memorial Hospital in South Carolina where doctors performed an emergency surgery.

Muthart told Cosmopolitan of the moment she woke up: “Everything was dark, and I knew I was blind, but when I sensed my mom by my side, I knew I would be okay.”

Since returning home on March 1, Muthart has come to terms with her new life - and is optimistic about the future.

She is currently attending outpatient psychiatric treatment, as well as physical therapy, but plans to pursue her dreams of becoming a marine biologist.

Muthart is also trying to raise money for a seeing eye dog through her GoFundMe page. So far, she has raised over $27,000 of her $50,000 goal.

And although she does get upset about her situation occasionally, Muthart says she would rather be blind than on drugs.

“Life’s more beautiful now, life’s more beautiful than it was being on drugs. It is a horrible world to live in,” Muthart told People Magazine.