A Spirit Airlines passenger took a ‘free’ drink perk, and what happened next made her feel she was ‘going into labor’

A Spirit Airlines passenger’s attempt to enjoy a complimentary Ghirardelli hot chocolate on a 90-minute flight quickly spiraled into a horrible mid-air medical emergency. TikTok creator Rachel (@racheldont) recently shared the story of what she called a “top 10 worst experience” of her life.

She was on a 5 AM flight and wasn’t about to pass up the free drink that came with her specific seat. Since she’d been up all night and had nothing in her stomach, she spotted the Ghirardelli hot chocolate on the menu and thought she was in for a treat. “I didn’t even know they made Ghirardelli hot chocolate. That’s like, that must be really nice, you know, is what I’m thinking,” she explained.

The flight attendant brought her the mix packet and a cup of hot water. Rachel made the drink and settled in, but within minutes, everything went sideways. She described the sudden onset of symptoms like an electrical shock. “Every hair on my body stuck up,” she said. “I had to take my headphones out of my ears because the music was overwhelming me. And that doesn’t happen.”

It was all downhill from there

Suddenly, she was drenched in sweat and consumed by intense anxiety. Despite having zero history of motion sickness, she became violently nauseous and asked the flight attendant for a bag. Five minutes later, she threw up. The vomiting was just the start of the nightmare. Her stomach pain intensified to the point where she felt like she was “going into labor.” She spent most of the 90-minute journey making three painful trips to the airplane bathroom.

She didn’t hold back when describing the sheer misery of the situation. “I’m s— my brains out, which is the most fun that you can have on a flight,” she said, adding, “I’m s—. And I’m holding the sides of the bathroom. You know, when you’re like gripping the walls. And I’m praying. I’m like, ‘God, please, like, somebody help me.’”

After surviving the flight, Rachel told her roommate the story, completely confused as to why a standard hot chocolate would cause such a violent reaction. That’s when the lightbulb went off. “She goes, ‘Oh, well, they gave you water. Right? Not milk,’” Rachel recalled. “I said, ‘Yeah. They gave me water.’ She said, ‘It was probably the airplane water.’”

Rachel was genuinely shocked to learn that planes don’t have running water and that the water is transported in, creating multiple opportunities for contamination. “Am I the only one who didn’t know that?” she asked. “I’m so disgusted. That thought had never even crossed my mind before.”

Her final warning to fellow travelers is simple: “Never get a hot chocolate on a flight.” After hearing her story, I’m definitely sticking to canned sodas and bottled water from now on. No experimental drink mixes while flying, either.