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This Girl Almost Died After Forgetting to Take Out Her Tampon for 9 Days

She was in intensive care for three days after discovering the "pure black" tampon.

21 March, 2018
This Girl Almost Died After Forgetting to Take Out Her Tampon for Nine Days

Emily Pankhurst, a 20-year-old college student from Britain, nearly died after forgetting to remove her tampon for nine days. She wasn't feeling well but assumed she was just feeling the stress of her exams. It turns out she was actually suffering from blood poisoning as a result of toxic shock syndrome.

She inserted a tampon, then forgot about it and inserted a second tampon. She attributes the mistake to her stress over studying. Nine days later, she noticed bloody discharge and a bloated stomach, and realized something was wrong. That's when she remembered to remove the tampons.

"When I finally realized the tampon was in me and I pulled it out it was pure black," she told the Press Association. "It was obviously coated in bacteria. I wouldn't have known what it was apart from the string. It was horrible."

Hours later, she felt faint and started slurring her words. She was rushed to a nearby hospital.

Emily spent three days recovering in intensive care. She's lucky to be healthy again.

Toxic shock syndrome is extremely rare — for every 100,000 women who use tampons, only three to four of them will develop TSS in any given year. It can occur when you leave a soiled tampon inside of you for too long and can be fatal, so it's crucial to change your tampon regularly. As long as you're paying attention to your body and changing your tampon as often as the instructions inside the box advise, you should be safe.

Credit: Cosmopolitan
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