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Published 14:03 3 Feb 2026 GMT
A seven-year-old girl ended up in hospital after she overdosed on her mum's GLP-1 injector pen, thinking it would help her with a stomach ache.
The injector pen consists of the medicine often known as Ozempic or Mounjaro, used to treat Type 1 diabetes as well as aid weight loss.
This type of medicine works by mimicking the body's natural hormone to suppress appetite and make you feel fuller for longer. However, like most medicines, they can cause their fair share of side effects, such as nausea, vomiting and diarrhoea.
So, when Jessa Milender from Indiana injected herself with 60 per cent of her mum's injector pen, she ended up 'lifeless' in hospital with grave concerns for her health.
Currently eight years old, she doesn't quite remember how scary the incident was for her parents at the time.
She told WHAS11: “I thought it was stomach medicine because my mom takes it, and I thought it helped her with her stomach aches.”
When Jessa’s mother, Melissa, realised what her daughter had done, she immediately called the poison control centre and rushed her to the ER, where Jessa began showing signs of dehydration and vomiting.
Doctors then reportedly sent her home as the ‘worst of the symptoms’ had stopped; however, Melissa said: “I should have never let them discharge her.”
The next day, Jessa started vomiting again, and her mum explained: “She was thirsty, that’s the only thing that she wanted to do, was drink water.
“But then she would throw it up.”
Jessa was then admitted back to the hospital, where she 'didn’t eat for six days straight’.
Medical records then showed concerns regarding Jessa's kidneys, including renal shutdown as she stopped urinating.
It was at this point that her family was ' 100 per cent’ worried her life was at risk.
“We as a family gathered around her,” Melissa continued, “because she was just lying there like lifeless, really.”
Fortunately, Jessa is back to her old self as she's made a full recovery.
Her mum also quickly took precautions to stop a similar incident from happening again. She now keeps her medication in a locked box.
“I try not to think about the what if,” she added.
“God protected us from the worst, and I firmly believe that.”
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