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A woman is facing backlash online after revealing she called an ambulance during a severe hangover. Many viewers argued the situation didn’t warrant emergency services and accused her of wasting resources.
In her initial clip, which has garnered over 936,300 views, TikToker Gia (@gia.marini) films herself with an IV in her arm, looking visibly unwell. “U guys ever have a hangover so bad u call 911,” she writes in the video’s text overlay.
According to Gia, the situation felt like a real emergency at the time. “In all seriousness i thought i was gonna die so…” she adds.
Netizens Have Zero Empathy
Viewers in the comments criticized Gia heavily, arguing that she wasted medical professionals’ time.
“No I’ve never wasted a bunch of EMT’s time because of my drinking. I normally take an advil and sleep it off like an adult,” wrote one person, getting over 17,700 likes.
“No because I don’t use resources I don’t actually need!” wrote another. “Hope this helps <3.”
Others questioned her condition at that moment. “But you’re sitting up and recording yourself?”
However, some comments were defending her decision to call 911.
“Paramedic here! She did what we would 100% advise a patient to do! She was worried, she got help, and she was ok,” wrote one person. “We have patients that call for a stubbed toe….I promise this woman calling because she physically could not get up off the floor is 100% valid. And we get paid by hour not by the triage level of a patient. I promise the medics are doing just fine that helped her.”
“I went to the ER bc I was hungover and was dry heaving at that point,” shared another commenter. “Turned out I needed three bags of fluids and my blood sugar was 47. I definitely wouldn’t have recovered on my own.”
Gia Shares More Details in a Follow-Up
After the backlash, Gia posted a second video explaining what actually led her to call 911.
She says she woke up on her bathroom floor after throwing up all night and into the next morning. “I couldn’t make it to the toilet. I was so weak,” she explains, adding that the vomiting continued until early afternoon.
Around 12:30 or 1 p.m., she says she started noticing new symptoms that scared her. Her hands begin tingling, then go numb. “My mouth was tingling, my legs were tingling, and I couldn’t move my body,” she says. She adds that her breathing becomes rapid and shallow, to the point where she could barely catch her breath.
At that point, she says she was curled up on the bathroom floor and panicking. “I’ve had bad hangovers, but nothing like this ever,” she says. “I was genuinely so scared.”
EMTs Were Reassuring
Gia admits she knows how dramatic it sounds, but she insists the fear felt real in the moment. “When I called 911, I literally said, ‘Please, I don’t want to die,’” she recalls. “I genuinely felt like I was dying.”
She says calling for help feels like the only option left. She doesn’t think she could have recovered without medical treatment. “I wouldn’t have been able to feel better without an IV, without Zofran or anything like that,” she says.
Throughout the experience, she keeps apologizing to the EMTs, worried she’s wasting their time. “I reiterated a million times, ‘I’m so sorry, this is stupid,’” she says. According to Gia, they shut that down immediately.
“They were very reassuring,” she explains. “They kept telling me I made the right call. It’s better to be safe than sorry.”
She adds that the hospital staff echo the same thing once she’s admitted. “They reassured me that I wasn’t wasting anyone’s time,” she says. “You gotta do what you gotta do sometimes.”
At one point, Gia even wonders if something more serious might have caused her symptoms. “For a second, I thought maybe I was roofied,” she says, though she clarifies her blood work comes back normal. She later jokes that at least that would have explained what happened, before quickly adding, “That was a joke, by the way.”
By the end of the video, she’s back home trying to recover slowly. She’s sipping electrolyte drinks, sticking to liquids, and taking the day to rest. “It was just the freakiest thing ever,” she says. “I’ve never felt anything like that.”
@gia.mariano in all seriousness i thought i was gonna d*e so #lol ♬ F my fing chungus life – emipih
It Could’ve Been More Than Just a ‘Bad’ Hangover
From the symptoms she describes, such as vomiting that wouldn’t stop, rapid or irregular breathing, and feeling like she couldn’t catch her breath, it sounds like more than a typical hangover. Those are symptoms commonly associated with alcohol poisoning.
Healthline notes that signs like persistent vomiting, confusion, seizures, slowed or irregular breathing, and low body temperature are all valid reasons to call 911 immediately.
At the same time, it’s worth noting that in the U.S., calling an ambulance isn’t something people do casually. Emergency medical services come with a very real financial cost, and the person making that call is the one who has to live with the bill afterward.
In fact, according to a 2024 YouGov survey, 23% of Americans stated that they chose not to call an ambulance specifically because of its high cost.
On average, an ambulance ride in the U.S. costs around $1,366, making it one of the most expensive emergency transport systems in the world. In many European countries, including Germany and Spain, public emergency ambulance services are typically free in urgent situations.
The Mary Sue has reached out to Gia via email for comment.
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Ljeonida Mulabazi
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