Emily Pankhurst/Facebook
You were warned about Toxic Shock Syndrome when you first started using tampons but probably haven’t thought much about it since. You might think that TSS will never happen to you, but Emily Pankhurt’s story might just save a life – the UK student ended up in intensive care for three days and temporarily lost her mobility after forgetting to remove a tampon.
The 20-year-old criminology student at the University of Canterbury in Kent finally realized that the tampon was still in her nine days later after she noticed she had bloody discharge and a bloated stomach.
Emily told MetroUK, “When I finally realized 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. But just half an hour later my speech slurred and my skin became mottled. I started to feel faint and I was rushed to hospital by ambulance.”
She was declared a critical case and in serious pain for days. Doctors told her if she had left the tampon in any longer, she’d be dead.
I know what you’re thinking – how could someone forget to remove a tampon for over a week?!
Emily says she was in the middle of exams, and she wrote all the symptoms off as being overworked.
“I put my illness down to stress and ignored the symptoms,” she said. “But mom knew it was something more and pushed me to feel better. She saved my life.”
I have no idea how I could forget about that thing shoved up by vag no matter how busy or stressed I am, but jeez it does not sound like fun. TSS is more common than you realize, so always be aware of the symptoms.
