A student from Wilmslow and her three pals were hospitalised in a suspected group 'spiking' in a Liverpool city centre pub.
Ella Shields and her friends, who are all 20, collapsed and struggled to breathe after drinking on a night out, despite taking precautions to stay safe. Ella visited Bierkeller in Liverpool One with her three friends, Ellie, from Ludlow, Anna, from Burnley, and Meg, from Essex, the Liverpool Echo reports.
They say they were at the venue for around four hours on Saturday March 19, until suddenly one of the women collapsed in the bar's toilets.
Read more:
She was carried out of the bar, and it was first assumed she was ill due to the effects of alcohol. Yet Ella insisted her friend had drank even less than the others, who all still felt "fine" at this point in the evening .
An hour later, Ella, a music student, suddenly started to feel weak and as if she was having a panic attack. She reached for a chair before passing out, all within the space of "a minute". She told the Echo she later woke up in an ambulance, hearing strangers' voices and feeling a prick on her fingers.
North West Ambulance Service confirmed three ambulances and two response vehicles attended the scene following a call at 7.22pm asking for medical attention. A spokesman said four patients were taken to the Royal Liverpool Hospital for treatment.
Ella and her friends suspect they were spiked because they recognised the sensation from when they were spiked a year before. According to Drink Aware, loss of balance is a symptom of spiking, along with feeling sleepy, visual problems, confusion, nausea and loss of consciousness.
The second-year student, originally from Wilmslow, said: "When you're drunk, your body and your mind are kind of in the same place. You'll be really clumsy and you might not have control of your body, but your mind will also be like that too. You'll be really giggly and your vision will be blurred.
"Whereas [with spiking], it's like you know what is going on. You lose control of your legs, but in your head, you still know that you're fine. That's what set me off where I was thinking, 'Okay, no, something's wrong here'."
Ella shared her story with the uniofliverpoolememepage on Instagram and went public because she believes part of the problem is people "not trusting their own instincts" and not asking for help when they feel different to how they would when they're drunk.
She said victim-blaming is also a problem, adding : "When you tell people about it, they say, 'next time you go out, just be careful', but we're so careful now, especially after the first time. We always go to the toilet in pairs, we never leave drinks alone, we always make sure we watch our drinks.
"There are only so many ways you can be careful before it's out of your control. It was in broad daylight, and it wasn't even a club, it wasn't like we were at a rave.
"It just makes you a bit angry that it's so overlooked, but also when you tell people about it, it's not 'Oh god, they need to be stopped, the people who are spiking', it's always like, 'Oh, you need to be more careful'. So it's kind of like, what do you want me to do in life? Never drink outside the house ever again?"
Ella said the first time they were spiked, at a different venue, staff thought they were just drunk or on drugs. She was worried they wouldn't be believed this time either, particularly as students. But the Bierkeller staff "handled it really, really well", offering them water, keeping them warm and making sure their breathing was okay, according to Ella.
A spokesperson for Bierkeller Liverpool said: "Most importantly, we are just so glad the patrons in question have made a full recovery. Our customer safety and experience is always our top priority. Training and policies relating to drink interference are in place for all staff members working in our venue.
"We have been working closely with local authorities to investigate the incident on Saturday. So far there is no evidence of drink interference. We will continue to fully cooperate with local authorities. Again we are just so happy our customers made a full recovery."
Merseyside Police has been contacted for comment.
Read more:
Also read:
Click here for the latest headlines from the Manchester Evening News
