Moira woman's tribute to pharmacist for life-saving actions after bee sting caused serious allergic reaction
Joan Johnston went into anaphylactic shock following the incident in the garden of her home
A Co Down woman has revealed that she owed her life to a quick-thinking pharmacist after she took a serious allergic reaction to a bee sting.
Joan Johnston had been stung on the scalp while in the garden of her Moira home
Initially. she had severe itching and redness which spread but when she arrived at the community pharmacy things got worse.
"I felt short of breath, dizzy, and began to lose consciousness, at which point, I was lowered to the floor and raised my feet to elevate my blood pressure.," she recalled.
"It was really frightening how quickly it got so serious."
Joan said the actions of pharmacist Stephen Joyce who gave her a life-saving adrenaline injection saved her life.
"I needed adrenaline which he was able to give me and I was thankful for that," she said.
"But it was down to Stephen's quick-thinking and expertise that saved my life really."
“The treatment I received from Stephen and the professionalism of the whole Boots team in Moira was nothing other than lifesaving.
"What was just a simple bee-sting, quickly became something very serious. On arrival at the pharmacy on the advice from my GP, I was dealt with very promptly and Stephen was summoned and immediately took control of the situation.
"I was given an urgent antihistamine, but quickly started feeling lightheaded and faint. The pharmacy team assisted me to a chair and called an ambulance."
Speaking at the start of 'Ask Your Pharmacist’ Week - the National Pharmacy Association’s flagship annual public awareness campaign for community pharmacy across the UK - Stephen said they were seeing and treating increasing numbers of often ‘unseen’ and often life-saving interventions.
He said he took urgent action when he realised Joan was going into anaphylactic shock .
"I am just glad that we were able to help in what could have been a very different outcome had she not come into the pharmacy to see us”, he added.