CR spoke with Marian and her mum Remi

Marian and her mum Remi

Marian, age 19, took eye drops for an itchy eye and from that had a one-in-a-million allergic reaction which saw her at death's door fighting for her life in hospital. To hear about her remarkable recovery and the miracle of her survival, Rebecca Duffett spoke with Marian and her mother Remi.

Rebecca: Your story starts when you started taking eye drops for an itchy eye. What was the original condition that you were using the eye drops for?

Marian: My eyes were itching and they were really red. I went to call my GP and they said that I should go to the chemist and get eye drops over the counter, which I did. It was my Mum that administered them into my eyes and it started from there.

Rebecca: What happened?

Marian: When the eye drops were put into my eyes and even before then, I had blisters all over my body. It was something like a muddy kind of colour, like my skin was very mouldy from head to toe. Then when the pain started getting worse I had to get rushed to the resuscitation unit, where they put a tracheotomy into my throat, because my throat was getting swollen and they didn't want my airways to get blocked. From there I started to bring up blood and blood started pouring out of my eyes.

Rebecca: Remi, what was your reaction when your daughter started going through this?

Remi: I was really scared. I remember her temperature going high from 40, 41 and it wouldn't stop. When it got to 44 she said, 'Mum, call the ambulance I'm not feeling well'. She said, 'Mum, just take my picture and that's going to be my testimony'. I wondered, 'what is this little girl talking about'? It was very frightening to see death knocking at your door, but I always have the faith that everything is going to be well, but I think you know at some point your faith will be tested. I just thank God for her life and for my life. It's a miracle and even the doctor said that this morning. We went for a check up this morning and he said, 'a miracle is living with you Remi' and I said, 'I see that'.

Rebecca: Have you been allergic to anything like that before?

Marian: No Mam I haven't.

Rebecca: Did it come on quickly or did it come over a few hours?

Marian: Probably a couple of hours.

Rebecca: And what were your chances of survival? How serious was it?

Marian: It was very extraordinary. I was near dead basically, that's what I heard.

Rebecca: Were you aware of what was going on?