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'Antidepressants left my face rotting': Mother nearly died after suffering horrific allergic reaction to newly-prescribed medication

Mpho Boadia, 36, was prescribed anti-depressants after death of a friend
Weeks after she started taking them she developed rash all of her body
Diagnosed with condition where immune system overreacts to medicine
Spent weeks in intensive care before her body gradually began to recover

Published: 08:43 GMT, 8 June 2016 | Updated: 09:54 GMT, 8 June 2016

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A mother was left fighting for her life after suffering a severe allergic reaction just weeks after beginning anti-depressants.

Mpho Boadia, 36, was prescribed the mood lifters in January 2013 to help with depression and post-traumatic stress disorder following the sudden death of a friend in 2010.

But just weeks later she developed a rash all over her body and face.

Doctors believed she had chicken pox, but as the rash got worse and blisters began erupting all over her body, she was rushed to intensive care.

There, she was diagnosed with Stevens Johnson Syndrome - a rare condition where the immune system 'overreacts' following a trigger such as a mild infection or medicine.

Mpho Boadia, 36, nearly died after suffering a allergic reaction to her anti-depressants. Just weeks after taking the medication a rash developed and soon she said her face was 'rotting' (right)

Potentially fatal, it leads to blistering and peeling of the skin and surfaces of the eyes, mouth and throat.

Miss Boadia described how she became covered in a painful rash before she started losing sensation across her body and taste buds.

She also told of how 'bits of flesh would fall out' every time she blew her nose.

Then, in late February 2013, she was taken to intensive care at Klerksdorp Hospital, where she was put under general anaesthetic and had her body scrubbed raw.

'The rash was really itchy. I immediately realised something was wrong,' she said.

'As it progressed, it was like I had been burnt with an iron. Blisters were spreading over me, so my skin was rubbed off.

'It was gruesome and painful. It was emotionally and physically difficult. My head was rotting. I was blistering from the inside out.'

As the rash got worse Miss Boadia was rushed to intensive care and began 'burning from the inside out'. She was diagnosed with Stevens Johnson Syndrome - a rare condition where the immune system 'overreacts' following a trigger such as a mild infection or medicine

Pictured on holiday, two weeks before she became ill, Miss Boardia would spend weeks in intensive care

She says her body will never return to how it was prior to her severe allergic reaction to medication

The mother-of-two, pictured here before her reaction, was prescribed the mood lifters in January 2013 to help with depression and post-traumatic stress disorder following the sudden death of a friend in 2010

Miss Boadia, mother to nine-year-old twins Emo and Tlhale, was hooked up to a drip where she was pumped full of antibiotics.

She was transferred to an isolation unit, where she spent the next two weeks slipping in and out on consciousness.

After a fortnight, she was moved back into intensive care where her family – including her mother Mavis, 56 – were warned that she might not make it.

Gathered round her bed, a Catholic priest read Miss Boadia her last rites.

'I vaguely remember my mum sobbing,' she said. '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.'

Then, remarkably, Miss Boadia turned a corner and began to recover.

'As I lay there, aware I might die, I thought, "I am going to fight this",' she said.

'I started bargaining with God. And it worked.'

The allergic reaction started with a rash across her legs (pictured) and all over her body before she was hospitalised and placed in intensive care

A priest read Miss Boadia her last rites while she was in hospital (left) and told her family to expect the worst. She miraculously turned a corner and started to recover (right)

Now she says she is looking forward life with her new partner and twin sons Emo and Tlhale (pictured)

Within a few weeks, she found herself beginning to recover.

Doctors washed her ravaged skin with cotton wool balls and she continued to go from strength to strength.

A month later, in April 2013, she was released from hospital.

She slowly regained her strength and despite still being very ill, began to go out.

Now – three years on – she is nearly fully recovered and has started a new relationship with partner, Marco Calligaro.

'I feel so much better now,' she said. 'I will never have that caramel-coloured body again but I have something better – my life.

'Emotionally, I am fine. I've battled and won. I'm confident and happy.

'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.'

STEVENS-JOHNSON SYNDROME - A POTENTIALLY FATAL REACTION

Stevens-Johnson Syndrome (SJS) is a rare condition arising from ‘over-reaction’ of the immune system to 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 - and can be fatal.

It was named after two US paediatricians who first described it in 1922.

The most common triggers for Stevens-Johnson syndrome in children are infections, usually viral.

Common infectious triggers include herpes, mumps, flu and the Epstein Barr virus.

In adults, reactions to medicines, such as pain killers and antibiotics, are more common. In many cases, the trigger cannot be identified.

SJS begins with flu-like symptoms. These are followed by a painful red or purplish rash that spreads and blisters - and then the top layer of the affected skin dies and sheds.

Possible complications include permanent blindness and lung damage.

Once diagnosed doctors will immediately stop the patient taking the offending drug.

Treatment includes IV fluids and high calorie formulas to promote healing.

Antibiotics are given when necessary to prevent secondary infections such as sepsis.

Pain medications such as morphine can make the patient more comfortable.