Boy of 18 ‘killed by hippy crack’
Parents in plea over laughing gas craze
A HEARTBROKEN mother is warning teenagers about the dangers of laughing gas after the sudden death of her ‘ hard-working and kind’ son.
Rory Wai, 18, was found in his bed by his brother a few days before he got his A-level results last year.
An inquest heard this week that, although the exact cause was unclear, the manner of Rory’s death and pictures taken of his bedroom suggested the use of nitrous oxide, also known as hippy crack, was the most likely.
The teenager’s parents, Henry and Sally Anderson-Wai, who had been away at the time of the tragedy, said after the hearing they hoped it would serve as a warning.
Mrs Anderson-Wai said: ‘We hope this might act as a deterrent to young people who might think twice about taking drugs or experimenting with laughing gas. I hope that even one person who may have been curious about trying it sees what happened to my son and is dissuaded. People think laughing gas is OK but it’s really not.’
Rory was last seen alive by his older brother William at around 4pm on August 6 last year when he went into his bedroom at the family home in Wivenhoe, Essex.
When William went up later to see if he wanted any dinner, Rory was lying face down on his bed. Just nine days later the grieving family learned Rory had achieved an A and two Bs in his A-levels – enough to get him a place at a good university to pursue his dream of studying engineering.
Mrs Anderson-Wai said: ‘He didn’t live to know how well he had done.’
She said Rory, who also had a younger brother David, had been a mentor to younger and less able students.
The death had ‘ devastated’ the family, she added. ‘A huge gap has been left in all our lives which will never be filled.’
Pathologist Dr Shaobin Wu told Chelmsford Coroner’s Court that a post-mortem examination showed there was damage to Rory’s lungs, while his kidneys had symptoms of acute renal failure. Both can be caused by nitrous oxide misuse. While the cause of death was ‘unascertained’, she added, nitrous oxide was a known factor in such sudden deaths.
Coroner Caroline BeasleyMurray said: ‘I am going to record that he died as a result of an accident, that he took a deliberate action that had an untoward result and outcome.
‘He was clearly much loved by his brothers. It must have been horrendous for William to find him.’