Nigerian Teen Lucky to Be Alive After SJS Attack

April 1, 2011, 3:30PM. By Gordon Gibb

Croydon, UKIt is easily every mother's worst nightmare. And regardless of where in the world it happens, the fact remains that Stevens Johnson Syndrome is a scourge that can come without warning and deliver utter devastation—sometimes death—from something as seemingly innocent as cough medicine or eye drops…

Such was the case for a Nigerian teen living in the United Kingdom. According to a recent report from the Daily Mail March 1, Marian Adejokun was given Optrex eye drops by her mother after Marian complained of an itchy eye. A doctor prescribed the eye drops, so everything was on the up-and-up.

Or so the Adejokun family thought.

Upon applying the drops to Marian's eyes before bed, the Adejokun family was back up within hours, rushing their daughter to the hospital after she developed an immediate allergic reaction to the eye drops.

What began as a Stevens Johnson Syndrome rash evolved into a full-blown case of SJS that kept the 19-year-old teen in the intensive care unit for more than three weeks. Most of her skin sloughed away, necessitating the wrapping of her body in a foil sheet. Marian was fed through a tube inserted into her throat.

Her mother, on more than one occasion, thought her daughter was on death's door. Marian was unable to eat or drink via natural means for more than a month as she battled against her Stevens Johnson Syndrome symptoms.

"I was crazy, beyond the worried stage and near to losing my mind. After a week I thought there was no hope..." her mother Remi Adejokun told the Daily Mail, adding that skin specialists told her they did not expect her daughter to survive.

"I saw death knocking at my daughter's door, all because of an eye drop."

According to the Daily Mail, Marian Adejokun's symptoms began with red lumps that emerged throughout her body. Blisters covered her entire face. Lips were painfully swollen. This, just hours after being given the eye drops. Doctors were at first unable to determine what was wrong with the young woman, until a diagnosis of Stevens Johnson Syndrome skin disease was determined.

After spending nearly a month in the ICU, Marian improved enough to be moved elsewhere in the hospital and was finally allowed to go home two weeks after that. But the battle is far from over. She must apply moisturizers to her skin on an hourly basis in order to foster complete healing.

Adejokun is lucky. Some SJS patients have died.

Optrex released a statement saying "Extreme and unpredictable reactions are of course possible with any medication." Its label is reported to warn against burning sensation, itching and allergic reactions. It is not known if the Adejokun family intends on pursuing a claim through a Stevens Johnson Syndrome lawyer.