A gorgeous Thai swimsuit model developed rashes and blisters all over her face and body after she was given antibiotics she was allergic to — three times.
“The pain was so bad that I really felt like I was going to die. It was intense. My entire body was burning and sore. There are no words strong enough to describe how it felt,” Sasinan Chuenlosang, 31, told Viral Press.
Chuenlosang, whose day job was in IT, complained of a sore throat and red eyes when she visited a Bangkok hospital on June 18.
Doctors diagnosed her with tonsillitis and administered Ceftriaxone, an antibiotic used to treat bacterial infections.
But it didn’t help and actually made things worse. The online model returned to the hospital three days later after experiencing chest tightness, a rash, blurred vision, a swollen mouth and an inability to walk properly.
Chuenlosang said she was given another dose of the same medicine and diagnosed with chicken pox.
She reports that her rash worsened, causing blindness in her left eye.
She was sent to the ICU, where the medics gave her a third shot of Ceftriaxone.
Chuenlosang felt dizzy, and her right eye became blurry and numb. She stayed in the ICU for seven days.
She was later transferred to another hospital, where she was diagnosed with severe Stevens-Johnson syndrome, a rare but potentially deadly reaction to medications or infections.
It usually starts with flu-like symptoms, followed by a painful rash, causing the top layer of skin to die and peel off.
Chuenlosang was still bedridden as of Monday and had to cut her long hair to let her rashes heal.
She has wounds around her eyes and mouth and on her forehead and cheeks. Her neck is covered in gauze to seep the blood and pus that trickled down her face.
“Before this, I was employed at an IT company, and I was [an] online model in my spare time,” Chuenlosang recalled. “This condition has shattered my dreams. It’s destroyed the life I had before.”
She is seeking an ophthalmologist to help restore her vision, so she can return to work.
In the meantime, Thanakrit Jitareerat, Thailand’s vice-minister for public health, said the government is investigating if Chuenlosang’s treatment “adhered to medical practices.”
