A Perth teenager was left writhing “like something out of the Exorcist” after taking a £10 ecstasy tablet.
Carolann Palmer is warning of the dangers of taking illicit drugs after being left fighting for her life after having a severe reaction.
The 19-year-old had taken what she believed was the class A drug – the first time she had taken drugs – to give her a “better buzz” during a night out with friends.
Instead she woke up in a high dependency unit, with the sobering thought that her mother could have been planning a funeral.
The sport and fitness student said: “At the time I thought it would give me an hour’s buzz and it would be better than the one I was getting off alcohol.
“About five minutes later I went outside because I’d started feeling funny and I can’t remember anything from then until I woke up the next morning in the high dependency unit at Perth Royal Infirmary.
“They got my mum in and said I was lucky she wasn’t planning my funeral. I was very close to not making it.”
Carolann has vowed to give up her party lifestyle following the scare.
“I was shocked when I was told that, but it’s made me determined never to take drugs again,” she said. “It’s not worth taking one pill that could end your whole life.
“People take them thinking it will give them a great buzz but in reality it can kill people or leave them fighting for their life.
“You are selling your life to someone who doesn’t care about you, they care about the money.”
Carolann’s mum Jayne said he first thought was that she had been slipped the drug without her knowledge.
She said: “When I found out she was in high dependency I just went numb. I thought her drink had maybe been spiked but later on she actually admitted she had taken an ecstasy tablet.
“One of the doctors said her body was so contorted that it was like something out of the Exorcist.
“It could have killed her and the nurse said I could have been planning her funeral, which was horrible to think.
“When she was in high dependency I was thinking it could still go badly.”
She added that parents needed to talk to their children about the effects of illegal drugs.
“I just felt heartbroken – your whole world crumbles under your feet.
“I’d never spoken to Carolann about drugs because I didn’t think she’d be silly enough to take them.
“All parents should make their kids aware of how serious it can be because the next one might not be so lucky.”
