One sip of my porn star martini and I was in utter agony – my lung collapsed and shrunk to the size of a testicle

A young woman whose lung collapsed while drinking a cocktail has been dismissed by a “negligent” doctor.
Olivia Smith, 22, said the paramedic “didn’t know what he was looking for” after telling her there were no signs of lung problems on her X-ray.

6

6

6
“I was frustrated, I knew he didn’t know what he was talking about,” said the social media marketer, whose lung had previously collapsed twice.
The east Londoner said she was dressed smartly when she went out to eat in Shoreditch last month to celebrate a friend’s birthday [October 21st].
When she ordered a Porn Star Martini, she felt “significant pain” and knew immediately that her lung had collapsed, a condition known medically as pneumothorax.
According to the NHS, it occurs when air is trapped between a lung and the chest wall.
“There is pressure in the chest and shortness of breath. It hurts when I laugh and cough and I get a stabbing pain in the middle of my chest.”
“It’s a very similar pain to a heart attack,” she explained.
Olivia rushed to the Emergency Treatment Center (UTC) at Queen’s Hospital in Romford, East London, telling staff she knew her lung had collapsed before she was quickly sent for an X-ray.
After waiting nearly three hours, Olivia was told by a doctor that there were no signs of lung collapse on the X-ray and that she was advised to go home and return if the pain worsened.
She said: “There was no point in trying to win the fight and I couldn’t even speak properly. It was 1am, people were waiting behind me and I looked OK to him.”
“He wanted me out the door.”
Before Olivia left the hospital, she took an X-ray and later discovered that the image clearly showed a deflated lung.
After the pain worsened, the young woman returned to UTC the next day, where another x-ray showed her collapse had worsened.
Doctors confirmed that her lung was 80 percent collapsed and were stunned that she had already been sent home.
Olivia recently filed a complaint about her ordeal.
“This is obvious to every doctor. It’s obviously vented, he was careless. “He just didn’t believe me,” she explained.
Olivia says she was admitted to St Bartholomew’s Hospital in London, where she was treated for ten days before undergoing lung surgery.
“I’m grateful to the NHS, but why did I have to deal with a doctor who doesn’t know what he’s talking about?” she said.
This is the third time Olivia has suffered a collapsed lung, and the second time the lung collapsed to just five percent of its capacity – leaving it only the size of a testicle.
After sharing her recent experience on TikTok, she went viral, garnering 840,000 views and more than 27,000 likes and comments.
One TikTok user wrote: “I truly believe that young women are always misdiagnosed and not taken seriously!”
Another commented: “Doctors should not interpret x-rays, a reporting radiologist should.”
“Very surprised they missed something so obvious.”
A spokesperson for the Partnership of East London Cooperatives (PELC) said: “We are very sorry to hear that this patient was unhappy with the service she received at our emergency treatment center and we apologize for any fears or concerns this may have caused she may have felt.”
“We are unable to discuss individual cases, but we always strive to provide the best possible care and all complaints received are thoroughly investigated so that any issues raised can be addressed and any lessons learned can be fully implemented to drive improvements .”
They added: “Our UTC at Queen’s Hospital can be very busy at times, with high demand at peak times.
“However, all patients will be medically assessed as soon as possible upon arrival so that they can be prioritized according to clinical needs to ensure those most in need of care can be treated first.”

6

6

6
Pneumothorax symptoms
The most common symptoms of a collapsed lung include:
- Sharp chest or shoulder pain that is aggravated by deep breathing or coughing
- shortness of breath
- Sinus infection (due to shortness of breath)
Source: NHS