05/09/2026
It’s that time of the year that I do a repost. I don’t apologise for re posting it as it’s important as many people see about Toxic shock as possible, it would be lovely if people could share and perhaps help other people.
This is not the sort of post I normally post but if I can make one person more aware then it’s been worth it . Today is a hard day for us personally, today is the anniversary of my step daughter death in 1999 we lost Kayleigh aged 13 , to Toxic Shock Syndrome.
She had been staying with us over the summer and went back home on the Tuesday to go back to school . What we didn’t know was that would be the last time we would ever see her . She was 13 and had started her Period on the Friday and she had used a tampon for the first time by the Sunday we had lost Kayleigh. What happened was quick and painful she had complained feeling poorly with flu like symptoms, she was then taken into hospital on the Saturday and they told us that she had toxic shock syndrome caused by using the tampon , what we didn’t know and could never have know that Kayleigh had staphylococcus in her body . And what happened was the staph would be made worse by using a tampon.
Toxic shock syndrome.
It’s caused by the release of toxins from an overgrowth of bacteria called Staphylococcus aureus, or staph, which is found in many women’s bodies. Toxic shock syndrome affects menstruating women, especially those who use super-absorbent tampons.
We lost Kayleigh on the Sunday . This had and has had such a effect on our families and we campaigned for changes to be made to the tampon boxes highlighting the dangers . As I have said not enough is said about this and today if one person reads this and it makes them think then it’s been worth telling you our story . This is not a pity post just to bring it to light and hopefully make more people aware .
