Stevens Johnson Syndrome Puts Young Father in a Coma

February 6, 2014, 8:00AM. By Gordon Gibb

Washington, UKA young British father from the United Kingdom who took simple, over-the-counter ibuprofen wound up in the hospital in a coma for nine days and suffering from Stevens Johnson Syndrome. His weight plummeted from 13 stone (182 lbs) to about 9 stone (126 lbs). He was left with blisters throughout his body. His nose looked like a bloody pulp.

All from taking ibuprofen.

Jason Ryan hails from Washington, a community near Sunderland in the United Kingdom. According to Mail One (1/19/14), he had been taking ibuprofen (something he had used without incident in the past) to combat flu-like symptoms in May of last year when he suddenly developed a rash and, soon after, blisters. His wife, Claire, called for an ambulance. “He already had this [Stevens Johnson Syndrome rash], like shingles, and he was taking ibuprofen every four hours,” Claire told Mail One. “It was all over his legs and his back; I knew it wasn’t a sweat rash. He was taking the ibuprofen and the next day his feet came up in blisters like tennis balls.”

Upon hearing the symptoms, the ambulance dispatcher suggested the couple physically report to the nearest walk-in center for an immediate assessment by a medical professional. “We should have known then,” Jason’s wife said. “We were then told to go to the hospital. We could see it progressing; his skin was blistering.”

Claire Ryan likened it to “a horror show,” she said. “Whenever he moved, more skin would fall off. He was screaming, it was so raw. Nobody could tell us what was happening because nobody knew.” But they soon did: Ryan was quickly diagnosed with SJS.

They were told at the hospital there was no cure: that the Stevens Johnson Syndrome symptoms would just have to run their course. Which they did, and Ryan is home now recovering from the ordeal.

But they have paid a price. Jason, an employee of Nissan, is still too weak to return to work. Claire has had to take a leave of absence from her career breeding and showing dogs in order to care for her husband full time. “We are all suffering,” she told Mail One. “It isn’t good.”

The couple has a 7-year-old daughter, Brooke.

While the young father is getting stronger physically, his ordeal with Stevens Johnson Syndrome skin disease has left him with a form of post-traumatic stress disorder. As well, the aftermath of what began as a simple SJS rash has left him with reduced endurance. He says he has to lie down every day at noon. He is only 28.

They have also been told his Stevens Johnson Syndrome symptoms could return.

It is not known if the family is pursuing a claim through Stevens Johnson Syndrome lawyers.