Wegovy Tragedy: Woman in Pain with 'Black Tongue' and Lost Organ After Weight Loss Jabs

Sarah-Jayne Crawford, a 32-year-old NHS personnel from Antrim, Northern Ireland, wanted to lose weight for her upcoming wedding and decided to take what she believed was an easier route by taking the weight-loss jab Wegovy.

Twelve weeks later, Crawford saw changes – her appetite diminished and she said she 'felt great' for the wedding. However, her health quickly deteriorated. She experienced an excruciating pain making her unable to walk, her tongue turned black, and ultimately, she required surgery to remove an organ. Crawford's experience underscores the importance of understanding the potential dangers behind treatments marketed as safe and effective.

Sarah-Jayne's Weight Loss Journey

For Crawford, the motivation was simple: she wanted to feel her best while walking down the aisle in November 2025. She was aware of the clinical buzz surrounding semaglutide, the active ingredient in Wegovy. The promise of a suppressed appetite and a more manageable weight seemed like the ideal solution for her wedding preparations.

Wegovy is a GLP-1 receptor agonist that has gained global fame for its ability to induce significant weight loss by mimicking hormones that signal fullness to the brain.

In August 2024, she decided to take Wegovy and paid £199 through an online pharmacy for a month's supply of the jabs with an entry-level dosage of 0.25mg. At that time, she weighed 19 stone 9 lbs (approximately 125 kg) and was a UK size 20.

'Wegovy was my last resort,' she said. 'I know a lot of people who are on the jabs and it worked like a dream for them. I had been battling my weight for what felt like forever and I was dying to slim before my wedding – but dieting, exercising and starving myself never worked.'

Initially, the results were exactly what she had hoped for. The jabs appeared to work effectively as her appetite diminished and she 'felt great.' Over the following weeks, she spent a further £350 on Wegovy and increased her dosage to 1mg.

However, the 'honeymoon phase' of the medication was short-lived, as the subtle side effects she had ignored began to manifest into a full-scale medical emergency.

When the Side Effects Began

Twelve weeks on the weight loss jabs, Crawford noticed a drastic change as she started to experience 'episodes of intense pain' in her upper stomach along with frequent bouts of vomiting.

Her sickness quickly progressed to an 'excruciating' trapped-winds sensation, leaving her bed-bound and unable to walk. Within 24-hours, her mum noticed her tongue had turned black. She also experienced foul 'egg-smelling' sulphur burps and was unable to eat spicy foods, including peppers and onions, alongside severe mouth pain.

'The black tongue seemed like a cherry on top and a warning of what was to come. It all happened so quickly,' she said. 'The pain was so unbearable I couldn't walk. I would rather give birth to five kids at the same time than go through with the pain again.'

Fearing the worst, Crawford immediately stopped the jabs and took herself to the hospital. MRI and CT scans revealed she had multiple gallstones blocking her bile duct, leaving her at risk of pancreatitis, as reported by the Mirror. Crawford underwent a cholecystectomy on 10 February 2025 to remove her gallbladder. Her surgeon advised her to stay off Wegovy.

Raising Awareness About the Jabs

Crawford eventually recovered, and her tongue has regained its colour, but she still carries the scars of trauma. She said she had heard stories before and even did her research before having the jabs.

'But it was the complete opposite. It's not worth it. Weight loss jabs are a temporary fix and the dangers aren't obvious. I'm proof that anything can happen once you inject yourself and I have now changed my mindset,' she said.

'Please do your research before you commit – I can't stress enough how much women are putting themselves at risk,' she added.

Novo Nordisk, the manufacturer of Wegovy, maintains that the jab is safe, saying its 1.6% risk rate for gallstone disease is well-documented. For Crawford, however, those statistical probabilities became a painful reality.