Michelle Sword, a mother-of-two, was fortunate to survive after self-administering a weight-loss pen she purchased online for £150 in September.
Ms Sword shared that she tried the drug 'legitimately' via an online pharmacy three years ago. Then she later decided to try the viral weight-loss injection again, which bought online to lose some pounds.
With their ability to suppress appetite, the GLP-1 RA family of medications, which were once created to treat diabetes, is now frequently used to help individuals lose weight.
On September 20, after easily purchasing the drug online and injecting it herself, the 45-year-old mother suffered a seizure and fell on the floor in front of her oldest daughter.
Just 15 minutes after taking the fake skinny jab, Ms. Sword started to feel disoriented and confused before she completely lost consciousness. After that, she was immediately taken to the hospital and given treatment.
Ms. Sword, who survived the incident, admitted feeling ashamed of taking the risk and apologized to her children, warning others not to gamble with their lives. She also recounted that the hospital's doctors had never seen someone survive such a low blood sugar level.
She said: "When the jab arrived, it looked the same as before except the dial was different. Usually on a weight-loss pen, the click stops for you at 1ml and you take 1ml.
"I was turning the clicker and it wasn't stopping. I must've turned it 17 or 18 times and thought if I need more I'll take it. I took some and thought I'd take some more later.
"I was getting my daughter's tea ready when 15 minutes or so later I started to feel strange. I felt disoriented and strange and unbeknown to me I was sweating.
"My daughter Cadie said at this point I was mumbling and my eyes looked different. She said I was slumped over, wide-eyed, and unresponsive at this point.
"I didn't know what was going on. She phoned my best friend who lives a few minutes away. She came round and straight away thought this was incredibly serious. She rang the ambulance and they were with me within 12 minutes.
"I was fully out of it at this point, I had lost consciousness."
As soon as paramedics realized Ms. Sword's blood sugar levels were dangerously low, they tried giving the mother liquid glucose in an attempt to help her regain consciousness.
Her condition deteriorated even further when she started having seizures in the ambulance on her way to Oxford's John Radcliffe Hospital.
"It was an out-of-body experience for me. I could hear people saying my name but I was just mumbling. They waited 40 minutes after giving the glucose gel but I wasn't responding. They put me in the ambulance and brought the pen with me.
"Apparently, I regained consciousness in the ambulance and they were trying to feed me pastries to up my blood sugars. But during the ride to the hospital, I began losing consciousness again.
"Then I began having a seizure and the paramedics rammed a needle into my vein to administer as much glucose as possible.
"I was rushed into resus and apparently, eight or nine people followed in with me and did everything they could. I think all my levels were going crazy at this point - my heart rate, sugar levels, potassium levels."
The mother reported a decrease in her blood sugar levels to 0.6 mmol/l. The NHS states that the ideal blood glucose range is 4 to 7 mmol/l.
Ms. Sword's injection contained pure insulin, causing her body to have dangerously high insulin levels, prompting physicians to try various methods to lower them.
"I regained consciousness and they said to me you are lucky to be alive. Doctors said they'd never seen anyone survive 0.6 blood sugar levels and that I was a miracle.
"I was told my children would've come home to a dead body if no one was in. I had a huge insulin overdose."
In 2020, she first took a "skinny jab" to reduce her hunger and shed pounds during lockdown. She put on a few pounds three years later and attempted the weight-loss medication once more in September.
"Nothing is worth losing your life over. I apologized to my kids and said I'm so sorry. I'm so angry and ashamed of myself. I will never do anything like this again. It's not worth taking a gamble with your life." Ms. Sword said.
