So, everyone likes to lounge in a long hot bath… but for Lydia it was too long and very painful…
A KU dance student spent over seven hours stranded in the bath and was later admitted to hospital after injuring her back in a dance class.
Lydia Gordon, 20, was found stuck in the bath unable to move by her three house mates who after numerous attempts at lifting her out called an ambulance.
“It was the worst pain I have ever felt. It was awful,” said the third-year student. “I had pins and
needles all down my legs and when the paramedics came they had to give me three cans of gas and air to calm me down.”
Even though Gordon was in severe pain she could not help feeling self-conscious and awkward about the entire situation.
“It’s not every day you get stuck in the bath,” said Gordon. “I was extremely embarrassed. I have never felt that embarrassed before in my life but I was in that much pain that it got to a point where I didn’t even care about that anymore. I just wanted to get out.
“When my house mates found me I’m pretty sure they wanted to laugh and cry at the same time but I think we’ll be friends for life. A boundary has been crossed that I never thought would be.”
In order to relieve the pain Gordon was also given a morphine injection in the hope that she would be able to push herself out of the bath.
“Even though I felt really out of it after all of the medication I was still in pain,” said Gordon. My body was numb but I could still feel this shooting pain and so the paramedics had no other choice but to call for back up and lift me out of the bath by putting a sheet underneath me.”
Oli Razzel, a paramedic for south east coast ambulance service, said it was usual to give patients with back pain Entonox (gas and air) but said morphine should only be given as a massive last resort.
“Situations like these are quite common,” said Razzel. “I was once called to see a man in his twenties who had severe muscular back pain where we had to give him paracetamol and Entonox. We then referred him to the GP.”
Alycia Smith, Gordon’s house mate, was the one who found Gordon stuck and had to break into the bathroom using a screwdriver.
“When I found her I just tried to calm her down because she was panicking. I thought she was going to have a panic attack,” said Smith. “We tried lifting her out but every time we moved her she started screaming. It was horrible to hear.”
Smith said she was really worried about Gordon and did not want to make the injury worse by forcing Gordon to push through the pain.
“There was no way we could have gotten her out without calling the ambulance,” said Smith. “Her pain just seemed to be getting worse and worse, and the longer she was in there the more it was hurting her and the more energy she used trying to get out.”
According to Gordon, the hospital doctor said the pain was likely to be caused by her back going into spasm and pinching a nerve. Gordon blames a dance class she took at university where she was required to do floor work and carry out lifts with her fellow class mates.
“The dance facilities we were using were quite poor because the studios we normally use are still under construction,” said Gordon. “The floor was very hard, cold and uncomfortable. Not suitable for doing floor work on.”
After seeing the GP, Gordon hopes she will be able to return to dancing within the next few weeks but says she is still unable to stand up and sit down without help, and can only walk short distances of around 100 yards until her back seizes up again.
Amelia Jones 
Hermione Marszalek