Teen almost died from ‘brain-swelling’ bug after ‘sharing vapes and drinks’ on night out
Joe Yates
Featured Image Credit: SWNS
'I had three or four drinks,' the 18-year-old explained as she recalled being placed into a medically-induced coma for four days.
Sian Alderton, of Norwich, England, was on a night out with her friends when she shared a vape with some of her mates. This led to her contracting bacterial meningitis, a rare infection that causes inflammation around the brain.
The following day she began to feel ill, and when her mum noticed red spots flare up on her face, she was rushed to hospital, where she was placed into a coma to allow her body to battle the infection.
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It happened in October, after she had visited two nightclubs with her friends. Reflecting on the ordeal, she said: "I'm not a heavy drinker and prefer the socialising of going out. I had three or four drinks.
"I shared my vape with three mutual friends and this is not unusual as everyone shares vapes on a night out.
"I didn't think anything of it because they were my friends."
The doctors treating her explained it might have come from sharing a drink or vape or kissing somebody while she was out, but they couldn't pinpoint the cause.
Sian added: "The last thing I remember is walking into the hospital entrance.
"I know I was aching, and it was hard to move, so I sat in a wheelchair, but then it gets blurry."
"When I woke up a few days later, I was still pretty out of it but was told I had bacterial meningococcus or meningitis.
"It was one of a very few cases the hospital had ever seen."
She spent two weeks in total in hospital before being discharged, and if it wasn't for her mom Kerrie Durrant's quick thinking, things could have ended differently.
The evening after the near-fatal night out, Sian ordered a Chinese takeaway, and after sampling it, she began throwing up.
Additionally, after noticing the 'red and purple spots' that covered her daughter, her mother Kerrie Durrant pressed a glass to them and they didn't disappear.
Durrant, 36, said: "Everything happened so quickly when we arrived at the hospital.
"Sian was put into an induced coma and the doctors and consultants told us Sian was very poorly.
"We would need to prepare for the worst and to say our goodbyes as she may not come out of the coma.
"I want to make people aware that the doctors have to find a source or where the meningitis bacteria started from.
"During tests Sian showed symptoms of sinusitis meaning it could have possibly been contracted through saliva from such things as vaping, kissing or sharing drinks."
Incredibly, just a week after Sian was discharged, she took and passed her driving test.