Concerns about an emerging trend of 'vape spiking' have been shared after one woman collapsed from taking a puff of a stranger's device.
Trainee paramedic Chloe Hammerton, 26, attended the Isle of Wight festival with her partner and brother, where she became suddenly "unwell" and "unconscious" after being offered a puff of a vape from a passerby.
Describing the incident to the BBC, she said: "It was like the entire world went into slow motion, pins and needles throughout my body and then I collapsed onto the floor - within a minute I was unconscious."
Medics at the festival helped Chloe before she was transferred to Southampton General Hospital, where she was "vomiting uncontrollably" for a further 16 hours.
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The outlet reports that a 51-year-old has since been arrested on suspicion of administering a poison or noxious substance with intent.
An expert went on to suggest that vape spiking is a "hugely unreported crime" that is "happening on our streets every day."
"All of these different flavours - it's so easy to ask someone 'why don't you try my blueberry vape? ' - that's as quickly as you can catch somebody," Dawn Dines of campaign group Stamp Out Spiking continued.
A spokesperson for the Isle of Wight Festival said in a widely reported statement: "This was an isolated incident dealt with quickly and professionally by all teams on site and no further reports of this nature have been recorded,"
"Our event medical team employs a wide range of appropriately qualified healthcare professionals.
"These fully-trained individuals work 24 hours a day across our medical facilities on site."
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