A UNIVERSITY student thought she was stressed because of her finals but was
actually suffering from toxic shock syndrome after leaving a tampon inside
her for nine days.
Emily Pankhurst, a third year criminology student at the University of
Canterbury in Kent, was in intensive care for three days and temporarily
lost her mobility after forgetting to remove a tampon for more than a week
last month.
The 20-year-old from Maidstone, Kent, could have died and says it was her mum
who pushed her to seek medical advice that saved her life.
Although now in recovery, she is unable to return full time to university and
cannot walk for long distances.
Emily, who wants to warn other of the dangers of toxic shock syndrome and
sepsis, said: “When I finally realised the tampon was in me and I
pulled it out it was pure black.
“It was obviously coated in bacteria. I wouldn’t have known what it was
apart from the string.
“It was horrible. I immediately chucked it in the loo, I felt sick.
Just half an hour later, her speech slurred and her skin became mottled.
“I started to feel faint and I was rushed to hospital by ambulance. I
know now that was the poison entering my blood stream,” Emily said.
She had put the tampon in during her period in January but was so stressed
with her studies that she forgot she had done this and inserted another one.
She removed one, but not the other.
Emily felt fine for a few days but then developed symptoms of bloody discharge
and a bloated stomach.
Over the next few days she started to feel hot and bothered.
Her mum, Diana, told her to go to the doctor, which she did, but tests didn’t
show anything unusual.
“I was feeling really ill by that stage. I was hot and dizzy and felt
really strange,” said Emily.
“I was bleeding more and my mum suggested I feel about and see if there
was anything there.”
After a shower Emily did this and found the errant tampon.
“I thought it was disgusting to be honest,” she said. “But I
also thought once I’d removed it, I would feel better.”
However, her mum – who had heard about toxic shock syndrome – recommended she
call the NHS helpline.
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She did and they said to monitor how she felt.
But within a few hours her condition had deteriorated. “I was sat in the
dark,” she said. “I can’t remember much, but mum said I kept
repeating, ‘I feel ill – my stomach’.
Diana called the NHS helpline again and they sent for an ambulance.
Emily said: “During the journey they said I was displaying all the
symptoms of sepsis and so the blue lights were put on. I became an emergency
case.”
At Maidstone Hospital she was transferred to intensive care. She was given 12
different types of antibiotics intravenously for three days.
“I was also fed through a tube,” she said. “My bladder was full
– I had two litres of urine in me – but I couldn’t go to the toilet
naturally and was given a catheter.
“I’ve never been in pain like it so I was given morphine and doctors said
if I had left it any longer I would be dead.
“The doctors asked me when I had last been to the toilet and I couldn’t
remember.
“I was stressed about my exams and really wanted to do well on my degree,
it didn’t register.”
After three days Emily was moved to a normal ward but the ordeal had left her
feeling very fragile.
“I could barely move,” she admitted. “I had to hobble using a
Zimmer frame. I was just exhausted.”
Now she has returned home to her mum – who she said “saved her”.
“I put my illness down to stress and ignored the symptoms,” she
said. “But mum knew it was something more and pushed me to feel better.
“She saved my life.
“I blamed deadlines, returning to uni after the New Year and exams.
Actually I was seriously ill.”
She said her boyfriend, 22-year-old Connor Kiefer, was also amazing.
“He really helped me,” she said. “He carried me upstairs and
his family are like my second family.
Her university has taken her circumstances into consideration and reduced her
hours while she recovers.
“I want to get on but I end up sleeping for 13 hours a night and then in
the day too,” she said.
“It’s amazing a tampon could have such an impact. I will never ever wear
a tampon again.”
Emily is also keen to promote awareness of sepsis.
“Through research I have found that sepsis is not so common in cases such
as mine.
“However, girls my age are not aware of the dangers of using tampons.
“It is so important to keep an eye on your health, especially during
stressful life experiences.
“I hope my story can help others like myself to take care of your health
and not take your life for granted because you never know what might be
around the corner.”
The role of tampons in toxic shock syndrome remains unclear.
The NHS said: “One theory is that if a tampon is left in your vagina for
some time, as is often the case with the more absorbent types of tampons, it
can become a breeding ground for the bacteria.
“Another theory is that the fibres of the tampon may scratch your vagina,
allowing the bacteria or the toxins to enter the blood.
“No evidence has been found to support either theory.”