Teenager nearly dies from toxic shock syndrome TWO hours after using tampon

A teenager ended up on life support just hours after putting a tampon in, having developed the lethal illness toxic shock syndrome. Jodie Craig, then 16, feared she was having a heart attack when she became so weak she struggled to move, and began to vomit. Her temperature soared to 47°C as a fever took hold. She was rushed to hospital where doctors diagnosed toxic shock syndrome, a rare but life-threatening condition.


Jodie Craig was 16 when she was rushed to hospital in Edinburgh suffering toxic shock syndrome, a rare but life-threatening illness caused by the bacteria staphylococcus and streptococcus

The teenager put a tampon in at around 3pm, but within two hours she felt she was suffering a heart attack as her temperature soared and she struggled to move


Miss Craig's mother Dawn was warned her daughter might die, as doctors put her on life-support in intensive care. For two years she struggled to recover, suffering stress-related alopecia and pneumonia. It is caused by bacteria called staphylococcus aureus and streptococcus pyogenes, which normally lives harmlessly on the skin. But when the infection invades the body's bloodstream it releases poisonous toxins. Miss Craig, now 20, told MailOnline: 'My temperature soared and my mum was told I might die. 'I was in intensive care for four days and hospital for a further week and a half.