Maria Adejokun, who was the second runner up at the Miss Teen Africa UK contest 6 years ago, has narrated the ordeal she passed through five years ago after she tried using an eye drop prescribed by a doctor in the UK for her itchy eyes. In an interview with UK Daily Mail, Maria who has undergone several surgeries to correct the skin deformity she suffered, said the next morning after she used the eye drops, she woke up with lumps all over her body. See more photos after the cut...
As her condition began to deteriorate she was rushed to hospital. Her skin began to shed and she was put into a medically induced coma.
'Unknown to me, I had a rare, deadly allergy to eye drops which caused by skin to peel off from head to toe. When I was in the intensive care unit, crying in pain, all I thought of was coming home.'
Her mother, Remi Adejokun, said the severe reaction left her daughter in such a terrible state she 'looked like Freddy Krueger' from the horror film Nightmare on Elm Street.
'I hate to say that, but there were so many blisters - her skin was just tearing off and her lips were very swollen. I looked at her and I was so scared she was going to burst open. I saw death knocking at my daughter's door, all because of eye drops. I was crazy, beyond the worried stage and near to losing my mind. After a week I thought there was no hope - but then as she lay on the bed, unable to talk, I said "Marian, you've just made it to university, that's your dream" and she moved her toe. Realising she could hear me I started to sing our favourite songs to her.
Instead of crying all the time I went to the intensive care unit and danced.' Maria lost so must skin she had to be wrapped in a foil sheet and still has to be fed through a hole in her throat. 'Everywhere was swollen. My nose was huge and my eyes were so red you could take a spoon and scrape out the blood.'she said
Specialist skin experts who examined her had told her mother that she will not be able to survive the reaction but miraculously, Maria pulled through. Today, she says the terrible experience has made her stronger.
'When I was in the intensive care unit, crying in pain, all I thought of was coming home. I've overcome a lot of in my life. Losing my skin because of an eye drop is just another obstacle I've made it through. I am so happy to be alive and share my unique story. No matter what the struggles are, you have to believe in yourself - and have a positive attitude towards life"she said
Maria has since gone on to complete a degree in early childhood studies at the University of Roehampton and has written two books, My Life Is Not My Own and ReachOut2All.
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