THE family of an American woman who gouged her own eyeballs out in a drug-induced haze wants to warn others about the dangers of addiction.

Kaylee Muthart, 20, was left permanently blinded after she intentionally scratched out her own eyes and was seen holding an eyeball on February 6 in front of a church in South Carolina.

According to the Post, the young woman — who doctors believe was high on tainted methamphetamine — reportedly started fighting off people who were trying to help her.

media_camera Kaylee Muthart gouged out her own eyes in front of a church in South Carolina while hallucinating on drugs. Picture: Facebook

Experiencing delusions, she believed that the world was “upside down” and that she needed to “sacrifice her eyes” to go to heaven.

Emergency responders were eventually able to render aid and fly her to Greenville Memorial Hospital, where she remains in recovery.

Her mother, Katy Tompkins, said that she arrived at the hospital to find out that her daughter was now blind.

“That was a struggle, I can’t even explain that feeling when I found out, it was horrifying. Complete terror,” said Ms Tompkins.

media_camera Kaylee Muthart with her mother, Katy Tompkins, who has started a GoFundMe page for her daughter. Picture: Facebook

“I was thankful she was alive, but I knew something was wrong with her.”

The 20-year-old, however, will have to get prosthetics in order to maintain her facial structure, according to doctors.

Tompkins said that she is sharing her daughter’s story as a cautionary tale.

“This is something you never think is going to happen to you, but it did,” Ms Tompkins said. “A lot of the mothers I talked to have kids that have been addicted to heroin for 10, 15 years and I’m like, ‘How did you get through it?’ My daughter was doing it for six months and it literally tore me up.”

media_camera Kaylee Muthart will receive prosthetic eyeballs to replace those she gouged out while high on methamphetamine. Picture: Facebook

According to the Daily Mail, Kaylee remains hospitalised where she will receive prosthetic eyeballs. When she is released she will learn to live without sight and warn other young people about the dangers of drug use.

In the GoFundMe page which Ms Tompkins started to raise money for a seeing eye dog for Kaylee, she posted: “If Kaylee’s story can help just one person, something good can come of this tragedy in our family. We are truly grateful for all the prayers and help we’ve received thus far and ask that you give whatever you can and continue to pray for us. The sooner we can provide Kaylee with a service dog, the sooner we can help her get back on her feet.”

This article first appeared in the New York Post and is republished with permission.

Originally published as Girl gouges eyes out in front of church