While some research indicates that drink spiking – or slipping substances into drinks consumed by unknowing victims – is fairly common, one recent case stumped healthcare professionals.
After trying other methods, the medical team working to save 23-year-old Kailey Kline gave her an antidote for antifreeze, according to Cowboy State Daily, an outlet who spoke with Kline’s nurse. Her symptoms, which included seizures, immediately began to subside.
Kline’s journey to St. Vincent Regional Hospital in Billings, Mont., where she was sedated and put on a ventilator, began in her hometown of Cody, Wyo., at a place called the Silver Dollar Bar. Her mother, travelling nurse Amber Espinoza, said that Kline rarely goes out drinking but was convinced by friends to go to the popular local bar to celebrate the New Year.
Kline remembers being handed a drink by a stranger at around 1:30 a.m. New Year’s Day. Around that time, she started feeling unwell. Her fiancée picked her up and within 10 minutes of arriving home, Kline began acting strange and vomiting. Then, she went limp and started foaming at the mouth and seizing.
Her fiancée called for an ambulance and first responders initially administered valium to no effect. Kline was intubated in the ambulance but managed to tell the EMTs that her drink was spiked.
According to American Addiction Centers, Rohypnol, GHB, and ketamine are drugs often used to spike drinks because they are not easily detected. Antifreeze can also be difficult for victims to notice if it slipped into a sweet drink, since it has a sweet taste.
UCONN Health explained that antifreeze contains ethylene glycol. As little as one tablespoon of the substance can cause kidney failure or death. Other possible effects of antifreeze or windshield wiper poisoning include vision problems, blindness, nausea, vomiting, heart rhythm changes, seizures, coma and liver failure.
“Eventually, Kline was life-flighted to St. Vincent Regional Hospital in Billings, where more testing was performed and an electroencephalogram was put on her to monitor brain function while she was sedated on the ventilator,” Cowboy State Daily reported.
When nurses and doctors tried to give Kline – who the outlet said had no history of seizures – stimulants, she would suffer seizures and convulsions. As her condition worsened, her sugar and potassium levels also dropped, while her lactic acid increased even as she received fluid and antibiotics.
“Every test the hospital ran for drugs came back clean and staff was hitting a brick wall until they gave Kline the antidote for antifreeze, resulting in an almost immediate response from her body,” Cowboy State Daily said.
Kline’s sugar and potassium levels began rising again, her mother said.
“Due to the relative speed that antifreeze metabolizes in the body, it can’t be officially confirmed that’s what Kline was poisoned with, but the fact her body responded to the antidote so abruptly and was suffering symptoms that aligned with this type of poisoning makes it the most likely cause,” Cowboy State Daily added.
Study results released in 2023 by American Addiction Center found that 56% of women and 44% of men reported that they had unknowingly consumed spiked food or drinks. Half of women said their food or drink had been spiked by a stranger, compared to 32% of men.
Other interesting findings from the survey revealed that “more than half of men and even more women did not report the person responsible for allegedly spiking their drink to the authorities,” and that more than half of the people surveyed didn’t trust the law to hold their assailants accountable.
Cowboy State Daily confirmed with the Cody Police Department that Kline’s case is under investigation. Her mother said Kline remembers what the strange man who handed her the drink she believes made her sick looks like.
“We’re still working through this case to solidify what happened,” said Cody Police Lt. Juston Wead, per the outlet. He also said that there are people the department needs to speak to about the incident and added that there have been no other reports of spiked drinks at the Silver Dollar Bar on New Year’s Eve.
Representatives of the establishment did not respond to Cowboy State Daily’s request for comment.
According to the outlet, Kline was released from the hospital Monday and has started walking again. However, it said she is still very weak from the ordeal.
Espinoza said that she fortunately doesn’t seem to have any permanent damage but that her memory remains foggy. She said her daughter’s recovery will take time, and that it is likely to be a challenge since she has two young children at home.