\u00c1ine Rose Hurst had been taking birth control pills <\/a>since she was 15 to help alleviate her heavy periods, her mother, Kerry Hurst, told Sky News<\/a>, sharing that \u00c1ine took a break from the medication when she was diagnosed with high blood pressure.<\/p>\n However, the 19-year-old from the English town of Bolton was put back on the same prescription \u2014\u00a0a combination of estrogen and progestin \u2014 when her blood pressure stabilized. \u201cWe was concerned and we voiced that concern with her and she just said, ‘Well that’s what the doctor has said,’ \u201d Hurst shared.<\/p>\n Getty<\/p>\n Three months later, \u00c1ine stayed at a friend\u2019s house, but called her mother to say, \u201c \u2018Coming home, I’ve got a hangover.\u2019 \u201c (The legal drinking age in England is 18.) However, over the next few days, she kept complaining of a headache.<\/p>\n \u201cI was encouraging her to drink plenty of water, fluids, and take regular painkillers,\u201d Hurst said. Then, in the early morning, \u00c1ine came into her bedroom, \u201ccrying, saying that her head was really hurting, that it was getting worse.\u201d<\/p>\n They contacted her doctor, who told them to go online and make an appointment. When \u00c1ine continued to deteriorate, her mom called the U.K. emergency line. The representative prompted Hurst to ask \u00c1ine questions. \u201cAt first she was responding,” recalls Hurst. “But then\u00a0she just stopped responding, and her head was going back.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cShe started forming at the mouth. And at that point, they told me there was an ambulance on his way.\u201d<\/p>\n Paramedics intubated \u00c1ine at her home and brought her to the hospital, where a CT scan discovered a blood clot in her brain \u2014 one that was too big to treat. \u201cThey told us that if she was to survive, she probably wouldn’t be the same person. And once they tested her brain to see if there were any function, if there wasn’t any response, they would turn the machines off at that point, which they did,\u201d Hurst said. \u201cIn the end, there wasn’t any brain function and turned the machines off. She died within minutes.\u201d<\/p>\n \u00c1ine\u2019s fatal blood clot was a rare, but a known side effect of some hormonal birth control pills. An investigation into her death cited the pill [as] believed to have caused the clot, and the coroner\u2019s court concluded that\u00a0it’s a “recognised but rare side effect,” according to the BBC.<\/a><\/p>\n Kerry Hurst\/SWNS<\/p>\n Never miss a story \u2014 sign up for\u00a0PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter<\/a>\u00a0to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u00a0don’t think there’s a lot of\u00a0awareness out there of the side effects,\u201d her aunt, Dawn Kidd, told Sky News, sharing that \u00c1ine\u2019s pills came with a \u201c102-page leaflet which nobody reads,\u201d where the risk of blood clots were listed.<\/p>\n Although it\u2019s rare, birth control pills can increase the chance of developing blood clots, the Cleveland Clinic<\/a> explains, with the risk falling somewhere between 1 and 5 people per 10,000, annually. Pills that contain estrogen \u2014 like the type \u00c1ine had been taking \u2014 are the only ones linked to that risk.<\/p>\n As Hurst told Sky News, \u201cWe just want more awareness around the potential side effects and what young women are taking and putting in their bodies.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"Stock](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/24bfdc7e17e8053d4720cc117bcddb49.jpeg\"\/)
Stock image of birth control pills. <\/p>\n![\"\u00c1ine](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/b702d38176d3525b8acc500712ca580a.jpeg\"\/)
\u00c1ine Rose Hurst <\/p>\n