I HAD STROKE AFTER SALON WASHED MY HAIR 6 TIMES
Nurse claims botched dye job led to blood clot
A MUM claims a botched hair treatment caused her to have a stroke.
Nurse Adele Burns – who had her hair washed six times by stylists – is now suing the beauty salon for £1million.
A MUM-OF-TWO has launched a £1million landmark legal case against a beauty salon – claiming their botched £200 hair treatment caused her to have a stroke.
Nurse Adele Burns, 47, says she suffered a life-changing emergency after a special day of pampering.
Stylists at Rainbow Room International in Glasgow washed her hair six times after failing to get the colour right.
Less than 24 hours later, Adele suffered a massive stroke.
Medics linked it to her head being repeatedly pulled backwards into the salon basin, which allegedly did not have protective padding.
Adele, from Mid Calder in West Lothian, hopes the court action – the first of its kind in Scotland – will force change. She believes salon bosses should be more accountable and that standards must improve to protect the public.
Adele said: “My life has been turned upside down from what was meant to be a rare day out.
“With backing from my doctors, there is no doubt in my mind the salon caused the stroke.
“This hasn’t just left me isolated from society, I’ve been isolated from my own body.”
Adele visited the salon off George Square in April 2016 for a £200 cut-and-colour as part of a day out arranged by her husband Campbell, 52.
After the five-hour appointment, she left with a headache but put it down to not getting a chance to eat.
The next day, Adele’s condition deteriorated. She felt dizzy and lost her sight while cleaning the bathroom. She rested for a minute before crawling to a phone to call Campbell for help.
However, she dropped the phone mid-conversation and passed out.
Terrified Campbell rushed home and found Adele was unable to speak or move. The right side of her face was drooping and he called for an ambulance.
At St John’s Hospital in Livingston, it was confirmed that Adele suffered a stroke following dissection of the vertebral artery – a clot caused by trauma in the neck which stops blood getting to the brain.
The incident left her unable to drive, which meant she couldn’t work and the couple had to sell their home.
Adele now struggles to speak, read, write and move but is determined to rebuild her life.
She added: “A stroke isn’t like a leg break where you take time out and heal then carry on as normal. It changes your life and the lives of those around you. “I’ve completely lost my independence and sometimes feel like my life is no longer my own.
“Campbell is my best friend and does everything for me nowadays.
“What makes it harder to stomach is that what our lives have become was avoidable.
“I just don’t want anyone else to experience what is happening to us.”
IT manager Campbell said: “Adele was an active and vibrant person. The hardest thing for me isn’t taking on domestic duties, it’s seeing her fight to keep the sparkle in her smile and eyes.
“I see myself as a problem solver who does what is needed to help us clear obstacles. It breaks my heart when I think this is one problem I’ll never be able to solve for my wife. The salon
It’s hard for me to see her fight to keep the sparkle in her smile HUSBAND CAMPBELL ON ADELE’S HEALTH BATTLE
should be ashamed – not just for what they did but what they are doing now by dragging her through a stressful and avoidable legal action.”
Court papers state salon staff didn’t ask Adele to attend a “strand test” before her appointment, which would have prevented the need for her hair to be re-washed and re-coloured six times.
Documents also accuse the salon of negligence by failing to offer Adele
a front-facing sink or provide neck protection during the treatment. Medical reports show there is no history of stroke in Adele’s family. A CT scan confirmed the stroke was suffered following the trip to the salon.
Jennifer Watson, from Digby Brown Solicitors, said: “A civil action against Rainbow Rooms is underway after our client’s life was undeniably altered following her appointment with their salon. Thousands of people will seek beauty treatment like this every year and Adele is incredibly brave in speaking out as a way of alerting others to the risks.
“Strokes caused by hair washes are not unheard of. There have been a handful of similar cases across the globe but I’m not aware of anything similar having called in Scottish courts. “This claim of negligence will be rigorously pursued.” Rainbow Room International declined to comment.