Teenager, 19, is ‘lucky to be alive’ after her drink was spiked with Ketamine during her ‘first proper night out’ since lockdown
- Sophie Pearce, 19, woke up in Leicester Royal Infirmary on Sunday afternoon
- She was attached to IV lines and a heart monitor after suffering from seizures
- Miss Pearce was on her ‘first proper night out’ since turning 18 during lockdown
- Ketamine was slipped into her drink as she danced at the Leicester nightclub
A teenager has revealed she feels ‘lucky to be alive’ after her drink was spiked with a notorious date-rape drug while on a night out in Leicester.
Sophie Pearce, from Braunstone, woke up in Leicester Royal Infirmary on Sunday afternoon attached to IV lines and a heart monitor after suffering three seizures.
The 19-year-old, who is now recovering at home, has shared details of ‘the most frightening experience’ of her life in an effort to warn other young people about the dangers of drink-spiking.
She was on her ‘first proper night out’ since turning 18 during coronavirus lockdown when ketamine was slipped into her drink as she danced at a Leicester nightclub with her girlfriend, she revealed.
Known as Special K to users, the Class B drug is also a powerful anaesthetic used by vets that can prove fatal, especially if mixed with other drugs, including alcohol.
Because of effects such as confusion, delirium, muscle paralysis and loss of memory, it has also been used by sexual predators to target unsuspecting victims.
Sophie Pearce (pictured), from Braunstone, woke up in Leicester Royal Infirmary on Sunday afternoon attached to IV lines and a heart monitor after suffering three seizures
In a post on Facebook, Ms Pearce said: ‘I went out on Saturday night to a nightclub where I had my drinks spiked, which resulted in me having three seizures and being in a really bad way.
‘I had to be pumped with bags of fluids and linked up to heart monitors. Apparently, I was spiked with Ketamine and I’m honestly so lucky that the ambulance got to me in time.’
She added: ‘To everyone that thinks that these things won’t happen to them, just like I did, it DEFINITELY DOES!! So please don’t be fooled.
‘Don’t leave your drinks, even for a split second. I held onto my drinks most of the night but obviously didn’t pay attention to people walking by. I honestly don’t get what people get out of doing this to others.’
Speaking to LeicestershireLive, Ms Pearce said: ‘It was supposed to be the first proper night out I’ve had since turning 18 during the pandemic.
‘My partner and I had actually planned to watch a film at home, but changed our minds at the last minute. Instead, we decided to go out to a club and meet some friends. It was also our first real night out together.’
Ms Pearce said the pair arrived at the nightclub shortly before 11pm on Saturday night.
‘We were dancing and socialising, it was a good atmosphere,’ she said. ‘I regard myself as quite a cautious person and, because it was so busy and the wait to get served at the bar was about half-an-hour, we only had a few drinks.
Ketamine was slipped into her drink as Ms Pearce (pictured) danced at a Leicester nightclub with her girlfriend, she revealed. Known as Special K to users, the Class B drug is also a powerful anaesthetic used by vets that can prove fatal
‘I’m aware of girls getting their drinks spiked in clubs and its something that I was careful to avoid.
‘It’s still all a bit hazy, but we were keeping our drinks close by – the only time I can think it could have happened was when I was hugging some friends I hadn’t seen for a long time since the lockdown.
‘I suppose that’s all it takes – just a few seconds when you are momentarily distracted.’
At some point in the evening, Ms Pearce said she began to feel a bit ‘woozy’. ‘It was like that tipsy feeling you get after a few drinks,’ she recalls.
‘But I remember thinking I hadn’t had enough to be drunk. I do remember, about halfway through the night, one of my drinks tasting a bit odd, I can’t explain how. But I asked my girlfriend to have a sip and she thought it was okay.’
Most of the details about what happened next have come from her girlfriend, her ‘absolutely petrified’ mother Samantha Chant, paramedics and hospital staff.
‘That’s the scary thing,’ she said. ‘Most of the night is a complete blank. Anything could have happened to me and I wouldn’t have known about it.
‘Apparently, I called my mum before leaving the club at about 4am and she stayed on the phone with me as we got a taxi home. When I got there, that’s when I started having seizures and my mum called for an ambulance.’
She said she was taken to A&E after she was assessed by paramedics and her girlfriend ‘also felt a bit ill but was okay’.
‘When I woke up on a hospital ward I was still pretty out of it. I didn’t really know what was going on – I still feel rough to be honest. It’s a strange feeling – I’ve never felt so tired.
‘If it wasn’t for my mum staying up for me, I dread to think what could have happened. And my girlfriend and friends who looked after me. My mum was absolutely petrified.’
Her mother, Ms Chant, said: ‘We were all very scared for Sophie. I’ve never seen anything like it in my life to be honest. It’s the most horrific thing that I’ve ever seen. It was absolutely awful.
‘I’m just so happy she is going to be okay, and glad that she somehow managed to call me and I was able to stay on the phone with her. I made sure she stayed outside the club with her friends and didn’t wander off somewhere.
‘I don’t know what would have happened if she’d got separated from them – it really doesn’t bear thinking about. It just goes to show you can’t be too careful.’
The incident has been reported to Leicestershire Police.
Ms Pearce said: ‘I’d like to think that whoever did this to me, it was a nasty but random thing and I wasn’t being targeted by a rapist. But you never know. That’s the scary thing.
‘I wouldn’t want this to happen to anyone else and that’s why I wanted to share me story. I really do feel lucky to be alive. I feel if it could happen to me then it could happen to anyone, and I realise it could have been so much worse.
‘I wished we’d just stayed in and watched that film now – I certainly won’t be going out for a while, and definitely won’t be going to that club again.’
Ms Pearce concluded by thanking everyone – both strangers and friends – for their ‘kind messages of support’. ‘It means a lot,’ she said.
Teenager, 18, who shared harrowing video after her drink was spiked at nightclub says she may never go out again and warns, ‘I don’t know how much more careful girls can be’
By Dan Sales for MailOnline
A teenager who had her drink spiked on her first night out – and whose harrowing experience was shared by video by her mother – says she may never go out again.
Millie Taplin, 18, had footage of herself suffering from the drugging go around the internet after she was targeted in Moo Moos in Southend, Essex.
She appeared in agony as her jaw locked and her hands were bent into claws as the effects of the spiking ravaged through her in hospital.
Today she admitted she would be reluctant to go on a night out again, due to fears over what could happen.
Millie said: ‘I would love to go back out, I liked the atmosphere, but now it’s a bit more of a panic feeling.
‘I wouldn’t be able to enjoy myself because I would constantly be on edge thinking whose going near my drink which is a shame.
Millie Taplin and Sadie Taplin on the This Morning sofa talking about a spiked drink
Police are investigating and Millie is now released from hospital and recovering at home
‘It’s really hard, there should be something to be able to stop it all but there’s never going to be something to stop it.
‘I cannot stress enough how careful you really have to be, I don’t even know how much more careful you can be.’
Millie was rushed to hospital after bringing two drinks back from the bar from a man she had been talking to.
Police are currently investigating and trying to track down the person responsible.
Ms Taplin pictured with her mother Claire after the spiking ordeal last week
Ms Taplin said she wanted to go out again but what happened had made her feel anxious
The teenager said that she thought women should be able to go out safely without worrying
It was her first night out at a club and saw her drink spiked by a mystery man in the venue
Millie Taplin, 18, was drugged in Moo Moos in Southend, Essex, on Saturday night last weekend
Speaking on This Morning with her older sister Sadie, she relived the moment she realised something was terrible wrong.
She said: ‘I went outside because I started to feel really hot and sick had I just thought I had too much to drink it wasn’t until I was actually sick my eyes went blurry.
‘I said to my friends “I think I’ve been spiked” and they said “no you’re fine you’re just panicking” and I said “no I’ve been spiked”.
‘We hear a lot about it, but you don’t think it’s ever going to happen, you think you’re being careful and doing everything you can.
‘There was a drink I had taken from someone else, which could be the drink, but I think it’s hard, it’s hard to pinpoint.’
Millie left hospital last Sunday morning, and was in bed at home the rest of the day.
Her sister Sadie said: ‘Personally, I think you should be able to leave your drinks and not be in this situation, but obviously you can’t.
‘She’s a clever girl, she’s not silly, it’s not fair that it’s happened to her. It’s disgusting quite honestly; I don’t know what they get out of that.’
Source: Read Full Article
