A mum has told of her horror at discovering her daughter fell unconscious for up to 11 hours after allegedly being spiked with a needle at Reading Festival.
The 16-year-old was waiting to see the Arctic Monkeys set at Reading Festival last Saturday when she "felt something hard on her arm" and became unwell.
After handing her some water, a security guard lifted her over a barrier near the stage before she started to throw up.
The teenager's friends took her back to her tent before she passed out, prompting them to seek medical attention.
She was eventually taken to a hospital, where doctors found stab marks on her lower arm with redness around the edges.
Her mum, Sam, told the Mirror: "She was with her friends and they were trying to push forward to the front, then it kind of became like a wave.
"She felt something hard on her arm but thought it was zips or bum bags as it was so busy.
"Once she was at the front, she said to her friend 'I don't feel well' but thought it was because she was being pushed and that it was hot. A security guard handed her some water."
The teenager became confused and thought she was suffering from heat stroke, or that she hadn't eaten enough.
Sam continued: "She found she couldn't walk in a straight line and looked like she was drunk, but hadn't had anything to drink.
"Her friends got her back to the tent and she was unconscious. They couldn't revive her. Someone went running for a medic - they said there's a two-hour queue, if you want to pick her up and bring her you can, which wasn't an option.
"When she finally came to, it had been up to 11 hours. Medics said 'has she been sick, is she breathing'. Everyone was assuming she was just drunk.
"She took herself to the medic and they said 'if you're sick again let us know'. That was it, no sort of help at all. She felt at a bit of a loss."
The teenager then phoned her mum to say she wanted to come home, at which point Sam phoned 111 and was told to go to a hospital immediately.
Astonishingly, another boy around the same age at the hospital said he had also been spiked with a needle at the festival.
Sam said: "He had actually seen a man go to stab him with a needle and went to drag it away, then it teared up his hand.
"He said it was almost like a squishy bottle with a needle on the end. Doctors could see the areas where they were both injected. They didn't doubt for one minute whether they were making it up."
"Both of them had ECGs and blood tests. The boy's hand started to look like it was infected so doctors were worried about him."
Sam's daughter was given injections to protect her against Tetanus and Hepatitis B. She will also be tested for HIV as a precautionary measure.
The mum added: "I don't think the reality of what happened has really hit her. She hasn't been exposed to anything like this.
"I asked whether she would go again - she said yes but now would avoid certain campsites and only go to the family one.
"I guess it's just made her scared of being in deep crowds."
Sam took to social media in an attempt to warn others, saying four local parents approached her saying their children had also been spiked with a needle at the festival.
She said: "My concern was this was like a mass targeting.
"So many people have sent me private messages saying 'thank you so much, my child also got needled at Reading and I didn't realise I had to do this that and the other'.
"It's really important something is done about this as you don't know what allergies people have - you don't know if a sedative is going to kill someone one day.
"But if people know others have been shamed and are scared to speak up then that's a real problem."
A Thames Valley Police spokesperson confirmed the force had received a report of the incident, and said it was being progressed.
The Mirror has contacted Reading Festival organisers for comment.
