West Street incident: 'Group of lads saved my daughter's life after medical emergency at Sheffield bar'

Joanne Holland, from Millhouses, told The Star her 20-year old diabetic daughter, Polly, was taken ill at Firepit Rocks, on West Street, and forced to leave the venue after her blood sugar plunged - a condition described by diabetics as a ‘hypo.’

Type one diabetics suffer a ‘hypo’ when their blood sugar level plunges dangerously low. If untreated, the patient goes into a seizure, before losing consciousness. If not treated, this can lead to death. But ‘hypos’ can be simply treated, by a quick intake of sugar, like a sugary soft drink.

Joanne claims a group of young men who saw Polly and her friend on West Street ran off to get her a can of soft drink, which was enough to bring her back from dangerously low blood sugar levels.

But the incident has also sparked a row between her and Firepit Rocks, as she believes staff thought she was drunk rather then suffering a hypo. She is now keen for more people to understand the difference, as she says the symptoms can look similar.

Officials at the venue dispute this.

Polly’s mum, Joanne, has complained to bosses at Firepit Rocks, after what happened late on February 22.

She claims Polly and her friend were told to leave the venue after an incident in the venue’s toilets, after she had gone there to try to recover and taken some ‘liquid sugar’ from a hypo kit that she always carries.

On this occasion, it was not enough.

Joanne claims Polly was assaulted by a woman in the toilets and asked to leave.

Bosses at the venue say CCTV shows its staff giving Polly a drink, but Joanne claims that a ‘group of lads’ ran to a shop to buy her daughter a can of sugary cola, which she believes saved her daughter.

She told The Star: “We don’t know who those lads were, but we’d like to say thanks for running to the shop to get the drink. which basically saved her life.”

Joanne said she believes staff at venues need to be given more diabetes awareness training.

She said she wants to see greater awareness, and emphasised the importance of fast treatment - a quick dose of sugar.

“Treatment for hypos should be given immediately. You only have minutes to do this,” added Joanne.

She said one in 400 people are type one diabetic. Polly has had the condition since she was aged six.

She said it was not uncommon for people to think people suffering a hypo are drunk, and believes staff thought this was the case at Firepit Rocks.

Bosses at the popular venue said they had looked at CCTV, and dispute Joanne’s account of events.

They said in a statement: “Please be reassured that at Firepit we employ very well trained, experienced door supervisors who do their best to care for any customers having any medical issues.

“After a thorough investigation and CCTV review it was very clear that the details you were given were very inaccurate.

“The CCTV shows the young lady in question leaving the venue of her own volition with her friend, who seemed to be struggling a little and a door supervisor sat with her for 15 minutes outside and provided her with a drink.

“They then left the venue.”

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