Marian Adejokun almost died after contracting Stevens-Johnson syndrome (SJS) when she took Optrex eye drops to help relieve her of her itchy eyes. Stevens-Johnson syndrome is a severe allergic reaction to prescription drugs.
The 19-year-old from Croydon, in the UK, lost patches of her skin and had painful blisters all over her body that caused her to spend more than 3 weeks in a hospital after taking a small, single dosage of the over-the-counter eye medication. After only a couple of hours, the girl started getting red blisters all over her body, including in her eyes and nose that caused her mother to rush her to the hospital. It was during her stay at Royal London Hospital that she was diagnosed with Stevens-Johnson syndrome.
“Everywhere was swollen,” Marian says. “My nose was huge and my eyes were so red you could take a spoon and scrape out the blood.”
She had lost so much skin that doctors placed the girl in intensive care, and had to wrap her in foil. The girl still has to eat by using a hole in her throat. Doctors told the girl’s mother that they weren’t expecting Marian to survive the ordeal.
“Her face was full of blisters, her lips were very swollen and the doctors still didn’t know what was going on,” Marian’s mother said. “I was crazy, beyond the worried stage and near to losing my mind. After a week I thought there was no hope but then as she lay on the bed, unable to talk, I said ‘Marian, you’ve just made it to university, that’s your dream’ and she moved her toe.”
Marian was taken out of the intensive care unit on February 8 and was able to go home by the 19th. Doctors proclaimed her healing as a miracle.
Perhaps it is the girl’s mother who best summed up Marian’s situation: “I saw death knocking at my daughter’s door, all because of an eye drop.”
If you or a loved one suffers from SJS, contact attorney Greg Jones today for a free consultation. I am experienced at SJS cases and will work hard to get you every dime that you may be entitled to.