The Mancunian Way: 'We saw the damage it did'
manchestereveningnews.co.ukAs he grew from a happy, sports-mad boy to a successful coffee shop owner, Jamie Boland’s parents watched on proudly. But then that joy turned to despair as their son lost weight, found himself in constant pain and began to look like a ‘prisoner in his own body’.
Jamie had become addicted to ketamine after starting to use it during lockdown. His chronic use of the Class B drug transformed his life from the out-going, pioneering owner of Ancoats Coffee Co to a virtual recluse, in constant agony because of the havoc it had wreaked on his bladder and kidneys.
Jamie died aged 38 in June last year of sepsis caused by a kidney infection, which was a complication of long-term use of ketamine.
Following the inquest into his death in November, Coroner Alison Mutch wrote to the Home Secretary calling for urgent action to reclassify the drug to Class A in a bid to prevent other people from suffering Jamie’s fate.
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