21 years on, another Leah left in a coma by ecstasy
BRITAIN was shocked by the death of 18-year-old Leah Betts in 1995 after her parents used images of her on lifesupport machines to campaign against the deadly drug ecstasy.
But 21 years later, it seems lessons have still not been learnt.
More than two decades on, another mother has shared a picture of her daughter – also called Leah – put in hospital by the class-A substance.
Kerry Robinson’s 16-year-old daughter thankfully recovered after taking ecstasy over Christmas. But the mother posted pictures online to stop other teenagers taking the illegal drug.
Alongside the image of her unconscious child in a tangle of tubes and machines, the 35-year-old warned: ‘This is what ecstasy does – please don’t take them.’
Mrs Robinson said Leah was ‘in a bad way’ after taking ecstasy at a party in Wigan, where they live, and put in a coma the next day after a brain scan.
Writing on Facebook, Mrs Robinson said: ‘I put the picture up so no other kids would think of taking these tablets again.
‘Yes, I blamed myself all the time but kids will be kids and try stupid stuff. She suffered hypothermia as well and she’s very lucky they got to her in time. I just hope kids will think twice before taking these pills.’
She claimed that two more youngsters had been taken to hospital for taking the same batch of pills.
It is understood that police are investigating the incident – it has not been confirmed whether other youngsters also needed hospital treatment.
Mrs Robinson added that Leah was home and recovering well days later.
In 1995, student Leah Betts, from Latchingdon in Essex, died after taking the drug at her 18th birthday party. She was placed on life-support after being found by her stepmother Janet.
By the time she died four days later, she had become the subject of widespread media coverage. Her father Paul and his wife, who now live in Scotland, shared a distressing image of Leah in hospital in a bid to stop others taking the drug and they began a passionate anti-drugs campaign.
At Leah’s inquest, Coroner Dr Malcolm Weir said of the media campaign: ‘If it prevents one more fatality, Leah Betts’s death will not have been in vain.’
The number of ecstasy-related deaths rose from 12 in 1992 to 56 in 2002.