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Woman addicted to drinking petrol

Shannon drinking gasoline. Photo: TLC
Shannon drinking gasoline. Photo: TLC

Behold the latest soon-to-be reality TV star: a woman who can’t stop drinking petrol, even though she knows it might kill her.

Shannon, set to appear on the aptly named TV show My Strange Addiction, claims to drink up to 12 teaspoons of petrol per day.

“It tingles at first and then it burns the back of my throat,” the US woman told TV channel TLC. “Even though it hurts me, it makes me feel good.”

According to TLC, Shannon whose preferred method of drinking petrol is straight out of the canister, has consumed over 18 litres in the last year.

“I take the cap off and breathe in the fumes that come forcing out of the can,” she said.

Shannon’s mother said at first she didn’t believe her daughter was addicted to petrol, but then she smelled it in her breath.

According to the New York State Department of Health, consuming petrol “can cause burns, vomiting, diarrhoea and, in very large amounts, drowsiness or death.”