Spiked on a night out – ‘My parents thought I was dead’

A Beverley woman has thanked the public, staff at The Beaver and the emergency services for their support and assistance after she believes she was spiked by injection whilst on a night out in the town.

Megan Bucknall, 20, was enjoying a normal Saturday night out with friends on 23rd April when she decided to step out of the pub for some fresh air.

But her evening dramatically changed when, as she returned to the dancefloor, Megan felt a pinprick in her upper right arm.

Confused as to what had happened, the East Riding of Yorkshire Council employee found her friends and told them she wasn’t feeling well.

Soon beginning to feel worse, Megan went to the toilets, where she saw two friends she went to school with. That was the last thing Megan can remember until two or three hours later when she woke up in Hull Royal Infirmary.

However, Megan has since been told she ‘looked possessed’, was ‘paralysed’ and left in a ‘vegetative state’.

Megan told Beverley Life that when her parents saw her, the situation was so bad that her mum feared the worse.

“Before being spiked, I was having an enjoyable night out and it was just like any other I have been on,” she said.

“I was dancing with my friends, laughing, taking pictures, just being a young person having fun after the two years of hell we have had with COVID. I went out for some fresh air as I was hot after dancing. I was outside for approximately five minutes.

“When I entered the pub and tried to squeeze through the crowd to get back to my group, I felt a sharp pinprick in my right upper arm.

“Immediately I was taken aback and I tried my best not to freak out. I didn’t fully understand at the time what had just happened, but I felt the needle go in.

“I made my way back to my group and I told them I felt really weird. Of course, their first reaction was ‘Have you had too much to drink?’, but then I began pointing to my arm.

“At this point I was feeling overwhelmingly sick, so I went to the toilets. I saw two girls that I knew from school and they instantly asked me if I was okay because they noticed I looked unwell.

“After that, I can’t remember anything. The girls in the toilet said I was sweating so profusely it looked like I’d just got out of the shower. My hair and my clothes were drenched.

“I began staring at myself in the mirror and at this point they knew my behaviour was out of character, and was not usual drunken behaviour.

“I looked ‘possessed’. My arm was hot to the touch, red and swollen. They then ran to get bouncers, management and staff shouting ‘She’s been spiked!”.

“From that point on, apparently, I was paralysed, my tongue being the only muscle I could move.

“My eyes were rolling into the back of my head, my pupils were so big you couldn’t see my eye colour, my body was limp and I had to be held up, I was going in and out of consciousness, I was foaming at the mouth and I was sweating profusely, hyperventilating and I was punching myself and scratching at my skin.

“When my parents got to the pub, my mother said she thought I was dead. I didn’t respond to their voices, I didn’t recognise them, I was completely ‘out of it’.”

After realising what had happened, staff at The Beaver closed the pub, waiting for the emergency services and Megan’s parents to arrive.

However, an ambulance that was called failed to reach the scene on North Bar Within, with Megan not deemed a priority as she was still breathing. Instead, her parents took her to Hull Royal Infirmary where she was treated. Megan also took a test provided by police officers, which confirmed that she had been spiked.

“Those urine samples were the determining factor that I had been spiked,” she said.

“I cannot fault the staff at The Beaver. They were amazing. They were quick in responding and reacting to my situation, they closed the pub not only for my safety but for the safety of others having a night out.

“They stayed with me and my family the whole time, until my parents took me to the hospital.

“They answered any questions the police had, any questions my parents had and they provided the police with CCTV footage.

“The police officers who attended were also amazing and I cannot fault them even if I tried.

“That includes the police officers who came to my house to take a statement and ask questions.”

Other than a sore throat, several bruises and severe muscle aches, Megan said that physically, she has had a lucky escape after the harrowing incident.

However, she believes that the mental scars will stay with her for a very long time, and she’s left wondering if she will ever go on a night out again.

A post Megan published on Facebook giving details of the incident and appealing for information has been shared on over 3,000 occasions and she has thanked the public for their support.

“Physically, I’m okay,” said Megan. “Mentally, I can’t say the same. I’m left traumatised, my family is left traumatised and the girls who found me in the toilets are also traumatised from seeing me that way. I have had two days off work to rest and build myself up to a stage mentally where I can face work but I will be traumatised for a very long time.

“I am scared to ever go for a night out again. I’m angry that the person or persons who did this to me will most likely get away with it due to lack of evidence and I’m angry that I’m not the first, nor will I be the last, victim.

“I’m angry that women have been saying for a long time they’re scared and we need more protective measures in place, yet still this is happening to us.”

A spokesperson for Humberside Police said: “We are investigating a reported spiking at a venue on North Bar Within, Beverley, in the early hours of Sunday morning (24 April).

“One woman was taken to hospital after becoming unwell. Our investigations to ascertain the causes of this are ongoing.

“We take all reports of this type incredibly seriously and investigate each incident thoroughly. Our spiking protocol was followed, and we are working with the woman and the venue to establish the circumstances surrounding the incident.

“If you have any information about these incidents that could assist us with lines of enquiry, please contact 101 quoting log 63 of 24 April.”