Woman who developed rare allergy to anti-depressants was left burning from the INSIDE OUT – but remarkably she survived
A priest gave Mpho Boadia her last rites and her family were warned she might not make it
A MUM who had an allergic reaction to anti-depressants was given her last rites by a priest as she lay burning from the inside out in her hospital bed – but miraculously, she survived.
Mpho Boadia was prescribed the medication in January 2013 to help lift her mood and overcome post-traumatic stress disorder following the sudden death of a friend in 2010.
A few weeks after the mum-of-two first started taking the anti-depressants, she developed a rash all over her body and face - which doctors initially diagnosed as chickenpox.
"The rash was really itchy," said Mpho. "I immediately realised something was wrong.
"As it progressed, it was like I had been burnt with an iron."
"Blisters were spreading over me, so my skin was rubbed off," she explained.
"My head was rotting.
"I was blistering from the inside out."
Mpho was eventually diagnosed at Klerksdorp Tshepong Hospital Complex, near Johannesburg, South Africa, with Steven Johnson Syndrome.
As the illness took hold, Mpho began to lose sensation in her taste buds.
She also told of how "bits of flesh would fall out"; every time she blew her nose.
After being submitted to intensive care in late February 2013, Mpho was put under general anaesthetic and her body scrubbed raw.
Steven Johnson Syndrome is a rare condition that arises from 'over-reaction' of the immune system following a trigger such as a mild infection or a medicine.
It leads to blistering and peeling of the skin and surfaces of the eyes, mouth and throat.
Mpho, mum to nine-year-old twins Emo and Tlhale, was hooked up to a drip of antibiotics and was placed in an isolation unit in hospital.
She spent two weeks slipping in and out of consciousness before being moved back to intensive care.
Her family – including her mum Mavis Boadia, 56 – were warned that she might not make it.
Mpho said: "I vaguely remember my mum sobbing.
"But I was in agony. My life would flash before me.
"As I slept, my skin would rip and shed.
"The skin on my feet had gone, so I could not stand up, and my nails fell off."
But just as Mpho’s condition was becoming fatal, her health started to repair.
She added: "As I lay there, aware I might die, I thought, 'I am going to fight this.'"
"I started bargaining with God. And it worked."
Within a few weeks, Mpho began to recover and a month later she was released from hospital.
Despite still feeling very ill she started to go out and now, three years later, she has nearly made a full recovery and has started a new relationship.
Mpho said: "I feel so much better now.”
"I will never have that caramel-coloured body again but I have something better – my life.
"No-one could have predicted what could have happened to me.
"But in some ways I am glad it did. It's made me a better person."