Three female Notts students appeared on 24 Hours in A&E after suspected spiking incidents

Three female students in Nottingham featured on Channel 4’s 24 Hours in A&E after they suspected being spiked whilst on a night out. During the episode we see Kate, Pavni and Sarah come to terms with what could have happened to them whilst on a night out.

Kate, a 20-year-old zoology student in Nottingham, was rushed to Queen Medical Centre after falling unconscious in a nightclub around  two o’ clock in the morning.

Her friend Harrison was there at the time and described that as they were walking down the staircase towards the exit he noticed that she had stopped walking. Within the space of 90 seconds Kate’s eyes rolled back and she fell. Harrison then started to administer CPR as they waited for an ambulance.

She was trying to vomit but seemed unresponsive when she arrived into A&E. Once she woke up she had difficulty breathing and was unsure where she was. Clinicians were concerned that she may have been spiked with a needle but could not find anything after searching for a puncture wound.

As a result of her collaspe and high heart rate  the doctors wanted to get a review from the cardiology team alongside blood tests. They ordered an X-ray to check for injuries in her chest.

Via All4

Her results from the ECG came back normal and despite a raise in alcohol level her blood tests showed nothing abnormal.

Harry, Kate’s brother described her as a very outgoing person who was excited to move away from home and meet new people at university in Nottingham.

Kate was kept in for monitoring for two days to make sure nothing changed in her situation. After being discharged her friend Harrison helped her come to terms with the events of that night. She described how it took her a while to get back to normal, saying: “A couple of weeks after, I remember going out for the first time and realising how much it did affect me.

“I remember there was one point where I just stood, in a corner, so I had walls surrounding me. So I knew that no-one could be behind me.

“It was not a nice feeling, I felt so uncomfortable. And not, like, safe in my own skin.”

19-year-old Pavni,  a second year law student at the University of Nottingham,  also appeared in the show after losing her memory on a night out. We see her talk about how she ended up alone in a taxi with “two random guys” on her way home but doesn’t remember a thing.

Pavni described how she wasn’t meant to be drinking much as she had a lot of work she had to do the next but after having two vodka red bulls she couldn’t remember most of the night at all including getting in the house or getting into bed. She described it as a “very weird night” and how it “just wasn’t normal at all.”

She said: “The scary part of it all was waking up at like 10am the next day and I just felt so out of it, I was like shaking.

“My voice was really trembly, but I felt like I couldn’t think properly. I felt like my brain was on cotton wool or something.”

Pavni told the physician how she had also been feeling sick, and felt aches on her arm. She was taken for bloods after being unsure if she had been injected or not.

Via All4

Her blood tests had come back normal but due to the possibility that she had been injected with an unsafe needle she was put on an accelerated course of Hepatitis B immunisation.

After Pavni left A&E she said the events made her feel “quite powerless”.

She added: “It wasn’t the spiking that affected me it was the uncertainty of what had happened.

“Because I study law, I was actually thinking maybe going into human rights or something, because it’s made me more passionate about injustices that face women.”

Doctors in the show expressed their concern that Parvni and Sarah, another student also featured on the show, may have been exposed to HIV after potentially being spiked with an unclean needle.

Sarah, a student at Nottingham Trent University , went to seek medical advice after she woke up in the morning following a night out and saw a mark on her arm suspecting she had been spiked.

Sarah described how she felt dizzy and nauseous and “weak all over her hands and legs.” After hearing about several spiking incidents in the news she sought medical advice.

She described herself as a very lively person, who wanted to have the typical uni experience in another city, away from home.

Via All4

After being examined by a physician  she was advised to take blood tests and the same immunisations as Parvni. Her tests came back with no abnormalities so she was sent home. Sarah said: “I definitely go out a lot less.

“It was quite distracting, I couldn’t focus very much on my uni work. I do sometimes worry about being spiked again. But I’m not gonna let it stop me from going out and living.”

End credits in the show detailed how both Sarah and Pavni suffered no long term physical side effects following the attacks and how they both returned to university and remained in contact after meeting in the waiting room.

It also detailed that during Oct-Dec 2021 Nottinghamshire Police received 292 reports of people potentially having their drinks spiked or being spiked with a needle. Nine arrests were made but so far no one has been charged.

Featured image via All4 

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