Paul Danan nearly died when he took heroin after mistakingly thinking he was meant to snort it.
The former Hollyoaks actor, who entered the Celebrity Big Brother house last night, has spoken of his past addictions to cocaine and pain killers.
But it was when he first tried the drug heroin that he landed himself in serious trouble and needed to be brought back to life.
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The star compared the harrowing situation to the famous Pulp Fiction scene where actress Uma Thurman’s character Mia Wallace can be seen foaming at the mouth with her nose bleeding after taking heroin through her nose rather than injecting it.
Recalling the frightening time, Paul, also known as Dangerous Danan, told The Sun: “My mum found me in my bed and I was making these weird noises and choking on my last breath.
“The ambulance was down the road thankfully, but by the time they arrived I was dead and they brought me back to life.
“It was awful. It was so dangerous as I didn’t even know how to take it, that you were meant to use foil, or inject, or even smoke it, so I snorted it as I’d done cocaine and thought it was like that.”
Paul said he needed an injection of adrenaline into the heart, just like Mia in Pulp Fiction, to revive him.
The former Celebrity Love Island star insists he was not addicted to the drug at the time and has not touched it since, however he admits to doing “party drugs” in the past and became hooked on painkillers after a motorcycle accident in 2010.
He said: “In 2006 and 2007 I was in and out of rehab for cocaine and party drugs and would just keep relapsing and have to go back in.
“Then I was OK for a few years, but in 2010 I came off my motorbike and broke my shoulder and learnt doctors give pain killers out like anything, so I soon became addicted to codeine.
“I kept taking the painkillers to numb the pain and because I have a tendency for addiction I got used to them and once you get used to opiates you get used to that pill, so you need more to take the pain away.”
Paul added that it was hard for him to stop taking the medication as the withdrawal symptoms make people feel very ill but has recovered and now takes paracetamol to deal with any pain.
The reality star now works with The Amy Winehouse Foundation in a bid to help young people who abuse drugs or alcohol, or who are self-harming or have eating disorders.
He concluded: “I want to be an advocate for mental health, I’ve died, I’ve been in rehab countless times, lost everything and been on benefits, but I’ve bounced back.”
Celebrity Big Brother continues tonight on Channel 5 at 9pm.
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