A woman who gouged out her own eyeballs while hallucinating on drugs has spoken about how she’s adapted to life without her vision.

Kaylee Muthart, from Anderson, South Carolina, was just 20 years old when the tragic incident occurred.

She had recently been diagnosed with bipolar disorder and had been using drugs including marijuana and ecstasy, which caused her to have intense hallucinations.

Kaylee Muthart ripped her eyes out during a hallucination (Kaylee Muthart)

“While on ecstasy, I studied the Bible. I misinterpreted a lot of it. I convinced myself that meth would bring me even closer to God,” she told Cosmopolitan.

After Thanksgiving 2017, Kaylee’s addiction became even more intense, despite trying to stop her habits ‘two or three times’.

Eventually, Kaylee agreed to go to rehab, but an incident before she arrived led to her ripping her own eyes out.

After being high from a session the night before, Kaylee feared ‘everyone would die, if I didn’t tear out my eyes immediately’.

She told the Daily Star: “I remember thinking that someone had to sacrifice something important to right the world, and that person was me. I thought everything would end abruptly and everyone would die if I didn’t tear out my eyes immediately.

“I pushed my thumb, pointer, and middle finger into each eye. I gripped each eyeball, twisted, and pulled until each eye popped out of the socket. It felt like a massive struggle, the hardest thing I ever had to do. Because I could no longer see, I don’t know if there was blood. But I know the drugs numbed the pain.”

She was just 20 years old when the tragic incident occurred (YouTube/What’s Trending)

Once at the hospital, medical professionals performed emergency surgery to remove what was left of her eyes.

Kaylee has since spoken about how she has adapted to life without her vision, explaining that her mind ‘will not accept not seeing’.

“When I open the window or crack the window for my cat in the morning, I wonder what it looks like out there. So when I open the window and stuff I think maybe God will help me see everything I have missed one day,” she said.

“I would like to see my loved ones get older, see what colour my cat is, I got him after I went blind. It’s like, imagine someone explaining to you what a character on a TV show looked like. They could tell you all the different attributes but until you look at them you will never know, you just won’t.

“Because I have seen before, my mind will not accept not seeing. They are called visual hallucinations and I kind of think of that as God not letting me be in the darkness.

“Even when you are blind it is not dark. I visualise like silhouettes of what I think is there. If I reach for it and it is incorrect it will change like that.”

Kaylee has explained how she’s adapted without her vision (Kaylee Muthart)

Kaylee underwent surgery three years ago where she had prosthetic eyes fitted to match her original eyes.

Mangione, 26, had been wanted in connection to the shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, who died on December 4 at the age of 50.

There was a nationwide manhunt for the alleged killer, with the New York Police Department offering $10,000 to anyone with information.

After a few days on the run, the 26-year-old alleged shooter was spotted at a McDonald’s in Altoona, Pennsylvania.

An employee at the restaurant called 911 to alert police, who rushed over to arrest the suspect.

After being apprehended by police, Mangione faced a Pennsylvania court yesterday (December 10) and was charged with murder and four other counts including firearms charges, as well as facing extradition back to New York – something he has contested.

Mangione has been denied bail and he’s believed to be a flight risk.

While they are said to be the person who called the cops, there’s a chance the staff member in question won’t get the total $60,000 reward.

Taking to Twitter to explain why, a 30-year trial attorney and YouTuber who goes by Lawyer Lee on social media said: “Legally speaking, the tipster has the right to up to $60,000 in reward money – $10,000 from the NYPD and $50,000 from the FBI.

“However, in many cases, they do not pay, or avoid paying for as long as possible.”

She continued: “The $10,000 is stipulated for calling the hotline and could be denied because 911 was called instead.

“The $50,000 is subject to review and technicalities are often used to avoid payment.”

Lee also pointed out that there are conflicting reports on whether it was a McDonald’s customer or employee who spotted Mangione.

People have since reacted to the news, with one going as far as labeling themselves as ‘speechless’.

“Ain’t nobody seeing no money,” said a second person.

Elsewhere it was suggested that someone will only receive the award money once the culprit is convicted.

Another issue the rightful tipster faces is that if they want to get their hands on the FBI’s $50,000 reward, they have to be nominated by an investigating agency.

On 28 April 1986, the flawed Number 4 reactor at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in Ukraine exploded, releasing at least five percent of its radioactive reactor core into the environment.

Following the disaster, dozens of people died within a few weeks of the explosion, and approximately 350,000 people were evacuated from the area surrounding the plant.

Although the explosion happened many decades ago, it still remains relevant to this day, with the event continuing to impact those living nearby.

For example, stray dogs living in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone (CEZ) – which is the radioactive area surrounding the nuclear plant – may have actually adapted to the toxic environment.

A new study collected blood samples from 116 stray dogs in the area and found they had managed to not only adapt to the environment, but thrive in it too.

“Somehow, two small populations of dogs managed to survive in that highly toxic environment,’ said Norman J. Kleiman, environmental health scientist at Columbia University.

“In addition to classifying the population dynamics within these dogs… we took the first steps towards understanding how chronic exposure to multiple environmental hazards may have impacted these populations.”

The findings were published in the Canine Medicine and Genetics journal back in March 2023.

The strays are likely to be offspring from dogs left behind during the evacuation (Sean Gallup/Getty Images)

Scientists found that the stray dogs had a number of genomic locations – which are essentially the positions of genes within chromosomes – that varied from the rest of the genome.

Researchers said that 52 genes ‘could be associated with exposure to the contamination of the environment at the Nuclear Power Plant’.

The findings could suggest that the contamination has caused the dogs – who are likely to be offspring from dogs left behind by the evacuation – to develop mutations allowing them to adapt to their environment.

The study is just some of the research being conducted into the site and whether animals and humans could safely one day return.

The findings could suggest that the contamination has caused the dogs to develop mutations (Sean Gallup/Getty Images)

Earlier this year, scientists discovered wolves living in the zone were resilient to the radiation that causes a number of different cancers.

Meanwhile, in March, experts visited Chernobyl to investigate nematodes, which are tiny worms living in the soil.

Despite the obvious high radiation levels, the genomes of the worms were not damaged at all.

Dr Sophia Tintor, lead author of the study, said: “Chernobyl was a tragedy of incomprehensible scale, but we still don’t have a great grasp on the effects of the disaster on local populations.

“Did the sudden environmental shift select for species, or even individuals within a species, that are naturally more resistant to ionizing radiation?”

An American rockstar who accidentally made one of ‘creepiest songs ever’ was once a cult figure back in the 60s.

Tiny Tim – real name Herbert Khaury – was born in 1932 and became interested in music when his father gave him a vintage wind-up gramophone when he was five years old.

Growing up in New York, he was the son of a textile worker from Beirut and his mum was a Polish-Jewish garment worker.

Tiny Tim’s ‘Tiptoe Through the Tulips’ now has a different meaning (Larry Ellis/Daily Express/Getty Images)

After landing a job in at the New York office of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios, he became interested in the entertainment industry and decided to show off his unique voice during a talent show.

Tim quickly became known for his unique falsetto and got his big break in 1968 from his cover version of 1929’s ‘Tiptoe Through the Tulips’.

By using a playful, old-timey melody, the song is very much a surreal listening experience.

It reached number 17 on the US Billboard charts, and cemented himself as a cult hero.

Sadly, in September 1996, he was performing at a ukulele festival in Massachusetts when he suffered a heart attack on stage.

The singer was taken to hospital and was admitted under the precaution that he needed to look after his health.

At the time, he was suffering from various diabetic and heart conditions. Unfortunately, he ignored all advice and suffered another heart attack on stage while performing his hit song.

Despite CPR attempts, he was pronounced dead in the evening of 30 November, aged 64.

While older fans will remember him for giving us ‘Tiptoe Through the Tulips’, newer listeners will have heard the song in various horror movies, giving a completely different spin.

Such as its inclusion in Insidious (2010), marking one of the more terrifying scenes in the movie.

In the film, the song plays as Renai Lambert unpacks boxes in her home as the tune randomly starts playing on the record player.

As the music continues, she heads upstairs and catches a glimpse of the mysterious figure a young boy dancing and running through the house.

Commenting on the track, one viewer said: “This song scared the s**t out of me in the Insidious movie.”

“The song choice for this scene was beyond brilliant. Took a light hearted festive song into the creepiest song ever,” a second thought.

While a third added: “One of the creepi[e]st scenes in any movie for me. I don’t know why. It’s just really unsettling.”

“For me it was still creepy even if Insidious never existed,” wrote a fourth.