A woman who took a ‘cocaine cocktail’ admitted that she ‘understands’ Liam Payne’s final moments after confronting the prospect of dying in a hotel room.
Danni Megaffin, 33, from Canada, struggled with addiction from the very first time she picked up a glass of wine at the age of 17. From there, the once “ultimate party girl” continually spiralled until she met her “one true love” – cocaine.
The museum curator would end up in dangerous situations, leaving her both physically and mentally broken.
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However, from the outside, the gorgeous blonde appeared to have it all – the friends, the jet-setting lifestyle and the ‘perfect’ Barbie appearance. Though, in reality, this couldn’t have been further from the truth.
(Image: dannimega/Instagram)
Danni remained in the grips of alcohol and drug addiction for more than 15 years until she finally managed to break free from the chains of her debilitating master at the beginning of 2023.
But, Danni’s story could have easily ended in tragedy, one that would have been eerily similar to the untimely death of Liam Payne.
“I am too familiar with the scenario of which Liam found himself in his final moments,” Danni bravely told us in an exclusive interview.
“As a One Direction fan in my younger years, I was heartbroken to hear about Liam’s death. I thought of his band, his fans, his child, his family and the pain that would have caused – and I thought about the unbearable pain he must have been living in with his addiction.
“I have spent many a night over my 15 years in addiction in hotel rooms which looked much like his did – chaotically scattered with drugs and booze, violently trashed by unimaginable anger at myself and the world around me.”
(Image: Dannielle Megaffin)
The scenes Danni describe are all too similar to what Liam’s hotel room, in Buenos Aires, looked like in his final moments. The musician appeared to have wrecked the room with a ‘smashed TV’ next to a flute of champagne, traces of white ‘powder’ and what is thought to have been a ‘makeshift crack pipe’.
It has now been reported that Liam Payne could have possibly had ‘pink cocaine’ – a mixture of mainly class A drugs ecstasy, meth and crack – in his system when he fell to his death.
And his tragic demise was one Danni nearly met too. Things really hit rock bottom for Danni in 2019 when she found herself at the hands of a ‘cocktail of drugs’ that she’d mistaken for cocaine.
Alone, in the deep dark grips of addiction and with a concoction of class A in her body, Danni took herself to her hotel balcony and considered ending her own life.
(Image: Getty Images for ABA)
While it is not known how Liam managed to fall from the window as of yet, Danni understands the ‘pain’ he would have been in.
She candidly shared: “In 2019, in a hotel room in South East Asia, f***ed on a drug I’d mistaken for cocaine, but was much more likely a dangerous cocktail of many drugs, I stood on the balcony daring myself to end my life.
“The pain you live in when you’re in that addiction and can’t get out is indescribable to anyone who hasn’t been through it. I’m not saying Liam died by suicide or if he fell – I’m just saying I know that pain.
“Even when I had a life that looked enviable on the outside, much like Liam’s, I couldn’t manage my feelings without drugs and alcohol. And they destroyed me.”
(Image: Buenos Aires Police/AFP via Gett)
Although once destroyed by the substances that controlled her for nearly half of her life, Danni has now managed to turn her life around with a lot of trial and error in her recovery.
She’s on a mission to fight the stigma of addiction and highlight that recovery is possible with the right patience and tools. Since first speaking to Danni last year, she’s grown her Instagram following from 5,000 to 112,000 where she posts regular updates about her recovery journey and motivational words to help those in similar situations.
The content creator and museum curator is proud to be a “sober hype girl” after coming out of the other end of addiction, but she knows this isn’t the reality for everyone.
(Image: dannimega/Instagram)
She no longer wants these complex conversations, nor addicts, to live in the ‘shadows of society’ but instead wants to openly talk about it in hopes we no longer have to mourn those who become victims of addiction.
Danni explained: “Without knowing Liam or much about him, addicts know the pain of other addicts. It doesn’t make sense to the outside world sometimes but I think I can take a guess at the loss and emptiness he felt.
“This is why I share my addiction recovery journey on @dannimega and why I started the @recoverymuseum – to both fight the stigma of addiction and let people know I am not alone.
“By using the imagery of a typical ‘influencer’, I subvert that concept by pairing it with discussions on addiction and trauma.
“Addiction almost took my life so many times via suicide attempts and near fatal overdoses. We absolutely must not it live in the shadows of society.
“We need to shine sunlight on it and talk about it so that we stop the tragic loss of life like Liam’s and so so so many others.”
For emotional support, you can call the Samaritans 24-hour helpline on 116 123, email jo@samaritans.org, visit a Samaritans branch in person or go to the Samaritans website
Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
