My tampon nearly killed me

May 23 2006

By Michelle Fiddler, Liverpool Echo

A SCHOOLGIRL was left fighting for her life after being struck down by a deadly bug. Fifteen-year-old Devon Machell was rushed into intensive care after being diagnosed with toxic shock syndrome - a rare form of blood poisoning. Just two days after complaining of flu-like symptoms, Devon's fingers and toes turned black, the skin peeled off her hands, her kidneys started to fail and doctors warned her parents she may not survive. Medics at Alder Hey today said they had never before seen a case of TSS - which strikes down just 40 people in the UK each year. Story continues ADVERTISEMENT The teenager, a pupil at Holly Lodge girls' school, began complaining of feeling ill while at home in Travanson Close, Fazakerley on May 4. Mum Louise, 34, said: "She started being really ill on the Thursday night. On the Friday she was even worse. "By the Saturday morning I realised that it wasn't normal. She had never been like that before. "In the past she had suffered from throat infections, but she is a dancer, so normally she is really fit and healthy. "I thought maybe it was a viral infection but she told me that her hands and feet were tingly. "I rang the NHS Direct line and they told me it could be meningitis and that I should take her straight to hospital. "My heart was in my mouth. It was just so scary."

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