A teenage teaching assistant from Glasgow has warned other holidaymakers about the dangers of partying abroad after she was allegedly spiked with a needle containing ketamine in a nightclub in Magaluf. Kacey Taylor, 19, was forced to cut her week-long holiday short by four days and fly home after becoming seriously unwell.
Holiday cut short after sudden illness
Kacey was enjoying a girls' trip to the Spanish island with a friend when she suddenly began to feel unwell while out partying on July 23. She had been due to fly home on July 28, but became so concerned for her health that she cut the £2,000 trip short and paid an extra £400 for the next available flight on July 24.
After arriving back in Scotland, she called 111 and was told to go to hospital immediately. At Glasgow Royal Infirmary, she underwent an ECG and a chest X-ray, which revealed her chest was inflamed. As she was unable to pass urine, doctors reportedly told her that tests suggested she had been spiked with a mix of ketamine and codeine.
Puncture mark on elbow
Kacey recalled that as soon as she returned to her Magaluf hotel, her left arm was so painful she could barely raise it. She noticed what appeared to be a puncture mark on her elbow, which she believes was from a needle.
"I was at the [nightclub] and I was completely fine," she said. "It got to about 1.30am and I said to my friend 'I really don't feel well, I need to get out of here'. I only had one drink, it was a vodka and coke. My chest had started to feel really sore and I felt really sick."
"We left and went back to the hotel. I said to my friend 'my arm is really sore, I can barely lift my arm up'. Then I saw there was a hole in my elbow where the needle had been. That was when I completely panicked because I didn't know what had happened to me."
Scariest thing that has ever happened
Kacey admitted she did not feel the injection. "I didn't feel it, didn't notice anything. I was vomiting and passing out. My friend found me on the bathroom floor passed out and she was terrified," she said. "When I woke up I was in agony. I was having heart palpitations and it was really painful. There was no doctor available at the hotel until Monday and I thought 'I have to go home,' so I booked the next available flight."
When her symptoms worsened the following morning and she could not get hold of a doctor, she decided to go home early. "This is the scariest thing that has ever happened to me," she noted. "My body was telling me something was wrong and I had a panic attack, it was horrible. I was fully convinced I wasn't going to make it."
"All I could think about was, 'I need to go home to my mum'. The X-ray came back and the doctor gave me some tablets for inflammation. I said I haven't been able to pass urine and the doctor said the needle had ketamine mixed with codeine."
Warning to other holidaymakers
Now Kacey is taking anti-inflammation medication for her chest pains and says she "prays every night" that she will soon recover. She has been left in fear of going on nights out and is advising other holidaymakers to be wary of similar dangers when partying abroad.
"Every day I go to bed praying I'll wake up feeling better and so far, it just hasn't happened. I keep waking up from the pain, it's horrible," she said. "I would never have imagined this, I can't believe it at all. I was excited for the holiday, I was enjoying myself until that happened."
"My friends go out and ask me to come and I say 'absolutely not, I'm not touching alcohol ever again'. It has completely changed how I feel about going out."
"People going over there should know what can happen, younger people especially need to be careful. I just want people to be aware and to be careful because I never thought something like this would happen to me."
