Woman feels ‘lucky to be alive’ after weight-loss jabs ordeal

A woman has described how she could not speak or stand before being rushed to hospital after taking an unlicensed weight-loss jab.

Kay Roscoe, 38, from Birkenhead, said she had used a substance sold as retatrutide, or “reta”, for two months before falling seriously ill.

The experimental drug is not approved for general use and is available only through clinical trials. Products claiming to contain it are widely sold online, but it is not known whether Kay took genuine retatrutide.

She is now warning others about the risks. “I am the luckiest person to be alive. Honestly I can’t say it enough, get off the pens,” she said.

On the day of her collapse, Kay had been due to go out for a roast dinner with a friend.

When she failed to answer her phone, her friend went to check on her at home and found her unable to speak or stand.

“I was frothing at the mouth, not responsive at all,” she said, recounting what her friend later told her. “My eyes were moving around, but I couldn’t speak or move or do anything.”

Kay, who has no memory of the episode, said her friends rang an ambulance and told paramedics she had been taking “reta” before she was rushed to hospital.

She said it took more than an hour for her to regain consciousness.