'You'll be skinny in your coffin': Single mum warns against £20 skinny jab after near-death experience

Stacey Smith recounted how she received the injection at a salon just 10 minutes after chatting with the owner on Facebook, in a bid to slim down for her summer holiday.

The day after the 38-year-old had the GLP-1-class shot, she started suffering from a pounding headache, vomiting, and was so weak she had to call her ex for help to move off the bed. Her concerned school-going daughter called for an ambulance that evening, and Stacey was rushed to the hospital, where she was hooked up to IV drips and given pain relief.

A month later, Stacey is still suffering from headaches, bloating, and struggles to go to the toilet, with her appetite yet to return. Now, the dog walking business owner, known for her curvy bum and thighs, is warning others not to touch the jabs, claiming people may lose weight, "but you'll be skinny in your coffin".

Stacey, from Sheffield, South Yorkshire, said: "I've never been that ill in my life and I don't ever want to be again. I thought I was going to die. The pain in my head, I'd never felt anything like it in my life. It was like somebody had taken a sledgehammer across my head.

"I couldn't get my head off the pillow and I couldn't have the lights on. I've never ever been sick like this in my life, it didn't stop for days on end to the point where I couldn't get off the bed. I couldn't even hold down sips of water, I was constantly purging. I had to phone my ex-partner and said 'I'm dying you're going to have to come.'"

Stacey had seen adverts for the so-called skinny shots on Facebook for months. Intrigued by glowing customer reviews and transformation pictures, Stacey contacted the salon on June 21 and booked an appointment.

The 5ft 3in mum-of-three was told there was an opening, so within 10 minutes, she went to the salon and had the jab, a process that took 'two minutes'. Stacey said: "I'm quite curvy, a size 12 top and a size 14-16 bottom. I'm well known for my bum and thighs, people are like 'I'd pay a fortune for that'."

"I'd seen adverts for it (the skinny jab) for a few months but because summer's coming up, I want to go on holiday and I want to feel confident and wear a bikini and summer dresses. I'd just gone through a break-up too. I get my lips done, I get a bit of Botox so I'm not scared to do stuff but I'm also not an uneducated woman.

"I'm not an idiot, so I've actually surprised myself that I've done such a stupid thing. I think I'm going through perimenopause and I've put a bit of weight on. I'd been umming and aahing with the idea for a while. It's not like I don't go to the gym, or I'm unfit.

"I (messaged her and) said 'I'm going to do it' and she said 'I'm in the salon now if you want to come. Within 10 minutes of me messaging her I went. When I went for that jab, no word of a lie, I was in that salon for two minutes."

"I walked in, she asked if I had diabetes and asked if I was on things she listed, I said 'no'. She said 'yeah that's fine', I handed her £20, she stabbed me in the stomach, and I left."

Within 90 minutes of having the shot, Stacey started suffering from trapped wind and reflux but says she was simply told by the salon that it was normal and asked her to drink water. But the next day, Stacey, who had suffered a stroke and blood clots on the brain two years ago, said she started to feel unwell and was admitted to Chesterfield Royal Hospital in Chesterfield, Derbyshire.

Stacey said: "I went to bed that night and couldn't sleep because of that feeling like I needed to burp, but the following day I started going downhill. I was really ill, I was projectile vomiting and had a pain in my head."

"My daughter rang for an ambulance, they took me to A&E. They gave me pain relief for my head and anti-sickness medication. I was hooked up to an IV drip and I had a suppository up my bum for pain relief. Doctors said it can happen (with this jab), that there was no quick fix and there's no reverse drug - it's just a case of waiting for it to get out of your system."

After a few days in the hospital, Stacey was discharged and is still feeling the effects of the jab weeks later. The business owner, who missed out on a week's worth of work due to falling ill, is now sharing her ordeal so others don't have the same experience.

Stacey said: "I take 50% of the blame myself for doing something so stupid. What's annoyed me the most is she's still promoting this stuff knowing I've just been in hospital, knowing she could have potentially killed me, but she's still advertising it.

"I still have pains in my head, I still feel sick and I can't eat as much. After all that sickness I've not even lost a pound, it's crackers. I still have that bloated feeling and I can't for the life of me poo properly. I wouldn't recommend anyone try this, you may as well just sign your death wish. You might lose your weight but you'll be skinny in your coffin. Don't do it.”