A student who felt a stabbing pain in her arm shortly before falling seriously ill believes she was spiked by injection in a nightclub.
Kacey Edgar-Hedges, 18, was out with friends in Swansea's Fiction nightclub when she felt a "sharp pain, like a pinch" on the inside of her upper right arm.
Friends spotted a pin-prick mark that soon began to ache. Kacey then lost all sense of feeling in her arms, her legs began to shake, and her eyes began rolling to the back of her head.
The police were called and she was taken to hospital in a taxi in the early hours of Thursday, October 21.
A South Wales Police spokesperson said the force is investigating nine similar reports made in the last few weeks.
There has been a rise in reports of spiking by injection across the country.
Kacey, a first year student at Swansea University, said she has been left feeling "vulnerable" and "extremely anxious".
She told Wales Online how "a fairly quiet night" out became a traumatic ordeal.
She said: "At around 2.30am I felt a sharp stabbing pain in my right arm, so I went to the toilet with my friend to check it out.
"Quickly after, my arm started to ache really bad, and that's when we located a small prick mark toward the inside of my upper right arm."
Kacey said she did not feel anything for the first few hours. She looked up advice online, washed her arm, informed her friends, and stayed with her group.
When the group left the nightclub at around 4am, things took a turn for the worse.
Kacey said: "My arms began to feel numb and I lost all sense of feeling in them, so my friend sat me down and rang 111."
As her friends were on the phone to the NHS, Kacey's legs started to shake and her eyes rolled to the back of her head.
She said: "That was the scariest part - my eyes rolling to the back of my head. I felt really close to fainting, and that's when the 111 operator told my friends to take me to the nearest hospital immediately.
"They helped me into a taxi, and my friends called my mum to explain what had happened because I was too distraught to speak to her myself."
In hospital, Kacey was checked over by a nurse and taken for blood tests.
"In the waiting room, I was notified that the police had been called to speak to me," she said.
"After waiting in A&E for the blood test results for about five hours, I asked if I could go home and [get] the results [by phone].
"An hour after I got home, the police came around to talk to me and my friends, took pictures of my arm, and also took my clothes as forensic evidence."
More than two weeks later, Kacey is still waiting for the results of her blood test results. She said the police have been supportive.
She said: "The police have been wonderful throughout the whole thing, and they are still providing me with support by keeping me updated on any findings they have on my case. The support from my friends was also amazing, I could not have wanted a nicer group of friends around me the whole night.
"The university has also checked in on me to see how I've been doing, and I've had emails from my head of department to tell me they're sorry for what happened, and who I can reach out to for further support."
Kacey has since been struggling with anxiety. In the first few days following the suspected spiking, she said she couldn't sleep.
"I felt really scared to be alone," she said. "I felt completely vulnerable so didn’t want to fall asleep in case anything happened.
"I've been extremely anxious to go out after this, and I think it's something that will never really go away - it's just something I'm learning to control.
"Thankfully, my group of friends have been amazingly supportive and patient with me, and they do go out of their way to help me feel safe."
Kacey has called on bars and nightclubs to bring in tougher entry checks to keep clubbers safe.
She said: "Clubs need to get on top of restrictions and checks as unfortunately there’s not enough of these going on.
"Bag checks and searches should be performed on all genders - even minor checks could save so many people from this sort of thing happening to them."
Fiction nightclub in Swansea issued a statement saying: "Everyone should feel safe on a night out, and they should feel safe in our club. We are the most regulated part of the hospitality sector; we work hard to create a welcoming, inclusive and safe environment so that all our guests can enjoy a fun night out and will do everything we can to protect this right.
"While these incidents are incredibly rare, we take all reports of drink spiking very seriously. Our teams are fully trained on the issue and have the support of our onsite medics, we operate our 'We Care' policy and support the 'Ask Angela' scheme. We are offering anti-spiking devices to all of our guests and operate 100% searches on entry, which also includes ID scanners and metal detector arches.
"We have extensive CCTV coverage throughout the venue and our security teams wear bodycams and we will pass on footage to the police to help with any investigation. Anyone who is suspected of spiking will be detained and handed over to the police.
"We would encourage anyone who sees suspicious behaviour, or suspects they have been a victim of spiking, to seek immediate assistance from a member of staff or security, who are trained to help and who also have the support of our onsite first aiders. We would also encourage them to contact police and seek medical advice, so that any allegation can be properly investigated."
