Thalia Heffernan 'felt more shame than fear' after having drink spiked at 17

The model has spoken out about her experience of being spiked as a teenager

Thalia Heffernan says she was spiked while at a bar when she was 17.

Model Thalia Heffernan has been inundated with messages from victims of spikings after she shared her experience of having her drink spiked in a bar when she was just 17.

In response to a recent increase in drinks being spiked, in recent days Heffernan, 26, detailed the incident and says she has since heard from many men and women who also had been spiked. One woman, she told 2FM on Tuesday, told her a friend had died hours after being spiked as her body could not tolerate the drugs.

The Dubliner says she was put into a taxi when she realised she had been spiked and the driver robbed her bag, money and phone and left her at the side of the road. She remembers being more ashamed than afraid after fully realising what had happened to her the next morning.

“I was at a bar with a group of people, it was a friend's birthday and I was given a drink. I didn't think anything of it, I was having a great time. I had the drink and I was actually immediately sick on myself and on the people around me,” she told 2FM.

“I was so embarrassed and so ashamed, nothing like that had happened before. I tried to pretend that everything was okay but whatever was in the drink, I consumed enough of it to take effect. 10 minutes later, I really started to feel my legs, my arms and my speech start to lose control. I couldn't talk properly, I couldn't see properly and I turned to one of the girls and I said I need to go.

“By the time I went to stand up and leave, I couldn't. A bouncer had to escort me out of the bar and they put me in the back of a taxi. I put my address on my phone. It couldn't even tell the driver where my house was. Then next thing I knew I was on the side of the street. I can't remember exactly where I was but it was around my home but I had no phone. He took my bag and subsequently took my phone and money. I'm not really sure what else he took to be honest and he left me on the side of the road being sick.” 

A passing couple called the gardaí but left when no one came to the scene. A passing taxi stopped and called the gardaí and waited until they arrived and helped Heffernan get home.

“That was it. I went to bed. I was just so embarrassed. I was very ashamed of myself. I just remember crying a lot. 

The one thing I do remember was just being so embarrassed.

“I remember vividly waking up and saying out loud to myself: I was spiked. I had been traveling, I'd done a lot of things by that point in my life and I just knew that that wasn't something that has ever happened before. It was such a bizarre experience that came on so suddenly. Within 15 minutes I was a completely different person and I was completely out of control of myself. The shame overrode that experience. I felt more shame than I did fear or anything to tell my parents.” 

Heffernan says she regrets that she did not speak out sooner and criticised the amount of victim-blaming around spikings and sexual assaults.

“I'm angry that it's escalated past the point of what I knew it to be nine years ago. I wish that there was more being done and I think there's a lot of victim-blaming going on. Nobody goes on a night out intending to be spiked, it's not like it's someone's goal when they leave their house on a Saturday evening.” She says she has come to realise how lucky an escape she had, despite being drugged and having her belongings stolen, after hearing from other victims of spikings since she told her story.

“In hindsight, I'm very lucky. I'm getting messages daily now from people who've experienced this numbers of times in their life. It's men and women, it doesn't discriminate,” she said.

“Someone messaged me last night saying a friend died after being spiked, after four hours because the drugs didn't agree with her system. In that context, I was lucky because I went to bed and I woke up in my own bed the next morning. Despite there being a few trials and tribulations getting into bed, I still managed to get there.” 

Lottie Ryan described how she and her sister had their drinks spiked while out with friends. Picture : Brian McEvoy

Other high-profile figures have since detailed their experiences of spikings, including radio presenter Lottie Ryan who says she and her sister Bonnie were spiked a few years ago.

“It happened to me and my sister actually on the same night, many moons ago,” she said yesterday.

“I was out with my sister and a couple of friends and we were dancing, and I wasn't as cautious as I should have been with my drink. I did put my drink down while I was dancing. In hindsight, I'm so annoyed with myself for doing it because I know better, and I should have known better at the time. But the drink wasn't far away from me. It was on the floor beside me.

“I went I would say from being a little bit buzzy, sober-ish, to being the drunkest I've ever been in my entire life within the space of about 10 minutes. 

I knew something was wrong instantly because I couldn't speak. I was having clear thoughts but I couldn't verbalise them. 

“I remember looking at my sister and she did not look good. I thought to myself, she looks the way I feel, something's after happening. Something's not right. I immediately knew something was wrong because I've never felt like that. I just knew I had to get home. I knew we needed to get out of there.” 

She says she and Bonnie immediately left and got a taxi home but she noticed people laughing at their staggered walk as they assumed they were drunk.

“I could feel my legs going. I can't describe how quickly this happened. It was so quick. I was holding on to the wall. There were people laughing at us because they obviously just thought that we were completely locked, which was not the situation.” 

Ryan says her sister was quite ill that night but both of them were fine by morning. They did not tell their mother what had happened.

“We didn't tell my mom because I felt responsible at the time. I had gone out with Bonnie and I felt responsible. I also questioned the clothing we had on. I'm older and wiser now. But at the time I do remember thinking: what were we wearing last night? Had we asked for that to happen.”