NEED TO KNOW
Christy Collins, a content creator based in the United Kingdom, opened up about her health scare in a series of videos
Collins told her followers that she had thought she had gotten an ingrown hair from shaving her bikini line when a “gumball-sized boil” developed under her skin
Later that week, she was rushed to the hospital with sepsis
An influencer is opening up about a frightening health scare.
On Aug. 14, Christy Collins, a content creator based in the United Kingdom, shared a video that kicked off a multi-week saga: “When you go [to the] doctors about an ingrown hair, but you DON’T have an ingrown hair… you have SEPSIS,” she wrote in overlaid text on a video of her in a hospital bed.
Collins continued to open up in an Aug. 20 video, explaining that she had thought she had gotten an ingrown hair from shaving her bikini line when a “gumball-sized boil” developed under her skin, which she squeezed after it came to a head. That day, she had a fainting spell — she lost her vision and hearing and could not walk.
“It was very scary,” she said. “I had a bar of chocolate and some water and just blamed it on the heat and went home.”
Christy CollinsCredit: Christy Collins/Instagram
But over the next week, the boil continued to grow until it was about the size of her phone. At that point, she shared, it was “red, hot and hot,” and it was so painful that she couldn’t walk or sit down. She was also experiencing shortness of breath, had stomach pains and was feeling lightheaded.
She eventually went to the doctor, where she was prescribed antibiotics, but the next day her condition worsened and she rushed to the hospital for emergency surgery to remove the cyst. After her surgery, she had to stay in the hospital for five days on an IV, learning that she had actually developed sepsis.
Christy CollinsCredit: Christy Collins/Instagram
On Aug. 21, Collins shared more about her recovery in an update, saying that her surgical wound was five inches long and two inches deep and that she was back on antibiotics because her infection had returned. She also added that she expected to have a “massive scar” after the operation.
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Following the health scare, Collins was still able to make time for her birthday earlier this week, sharing videos of herself buying a birthday cake and opening presents.
PEOPLE has reached out to Collins for comment.
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