Boy, 12, in A&E after bingeing on vodka at school
‘Worst 24 hours I have ever faced’
HOOKED up to wires in a hospital bed, 12-year-old Chase Owen recovers from alcohol poisoning – after bingeing on vodka at school.
The pupil was trying to fit in with friends when he took swigs of alcohol that had been smuggled to school in Coca-Cola bottles.
His mother Jo Owen has now released pictures of her son as a warning to other parents about the dangers of peer pressure.
She said Chase almost died after she found him slumped in their garden in Taunton, Somerset. Hospital tests found his blood alcohol level was two-and-a-half times the legal driving limit.
The shop worker said: ‘After being a parent for almost 13 years this is the worst 24 hours I have ever faced. Finding Chase collapsed in my front garden after school I instantly knew something wasn’t right. According to him he was just tired!’
She said his condition rapidly worsened once she had moved him into the house, and that he was ‘unable to string a sentence together, slurring his words and very soon vomiting profusely. Having to see my son like that was awful.’
She added: ‘Having called an ambulance, we had to face the wait in A&E. At first they thought he had meningitis, possible stroke or just the effects of a really bad migraine.
‘After three hours or so his tox report came back and Chase had enough alcohol in his system to be two-and-a-half times the drink drive limit.
‘We have now found out from investigations at the school that over the course of three days Chase had been downing shots of vodka that the popular boys were bringing into school in Coke bottles. He was trying to impress these boys to fit in with them. In turn he almost died.
‘He is now feeling rather sorry for himself but out of danger. Peer pressure can be deadly.’
She urged parents to educate their teenagers about peer pressure. She also encouraged them to share the pictures of Chase to highlight the effects of alcohol poisoning. Thousands of people have responded to her message online.