A young woman from Hayling Island in Hampshire had to drive 20 terrifying miles whilst vomiting and blacking out when an out-of-hours GP denied her a home visit, risking serious injury in a car crash and the possibility of an expensive woman car insurance claim.
19-year-old Stephanie Hart was home alone on September 16th when she suffered a violent allergic reaction to a course of antibiotics she was taking.
She called NHS Direct at 2.30am and was told she urgently needed anti-sickness medication - but she would have to drive to a surgery in Drayton, about 10 miles away, to pick it up.
"I was in agony," she said, "dehydrated, scared, dizzy, confused and vomiting."
Stephanie had to stop nine times on the round trip to the surgery when the dizziness and nausea overwhelmed her.
At one stop-off on the way home she stumbled into a field by the roadside and fainted. When she came-to, disorientated and still feeling very sick, she had no choice but to climb back into her car and keep driving.
Miraculously, considering she had been doubled up with nausea and slipping in and out of consciousness, Stephanie eventually made it home at 4am. She has since made a formal complaint about the GP's decision not to bring the medication to her.
Lee-Anne Bass, spokesperson for the cheap car insurance specialists at CoverGirl, said "I can't believe this girl made it home in one piece considering the state she was in.
"I guess the roads would have been very quiet at that time of night, but even so, she was very lucky to have avoided a car crash and a none-too-cheap car insurance claim."