Heroin coma victim's parents speak out
The parents of the victim of a heroin overdose have issued a warning to other users of the drug.
Nina Williams has been in a coma since the accidental overdose ten years ago.
She sits lifeless, unable to speak or hear, and is fed through a tube in her stomach. Her parents can hug her but know she will never respond.
And they want Nina's sad fate to act as a warning to teenagers everywhere.
One of the things Nina liked best about being on heroin was that she was thin and cool and her parents want others to see this most unglamourous side to drug taking.
There are around 200,000 heroin addicts in the UK and each year around 1,500 die here from drug misuse.
In 1998, when Nina was 19, her idols were Kurt Cobain and Jimi Hendrix - both victims of drugs.
Today it's the influence of stars like Amy Winehouse that parents worry about - her drug use is widely documented.
Nina's mother Chris said: "I would say to Amy Winehouse,'Please come and visit Nina'."
© Independent Television News Limited 2008. All rights reserved.
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