Devastated mother shares harrowing pictures of her son, 16, in a hospital bed after he took a £2 ecstasy pill that was laced with rat poison
- Odhran Coburn went into multi-organ failure after he took £2 of MDMA in Belfast
- Toxicology reports at Mater Hospital showed tablet was 78 per cent rat poison
- Against all odds, the then 16-year-old got better and is back at school part-time
- He is having rehabilitation and is without use of left arm and short-term memory
The mother of a teenager who defied a 1 per cent chance of survival after taking drugs laced with rat poison has shared pictures of him in a bid to deter youngsters from taking ecstasy this party season.
Odhran Hearty Coburn went into multi-organ failure after he took a £2 MDMA – or ecstasy tablet – while at the Belsonic festival in Belfast on June 25.
Toxicology reports at Belfast’s Mater Hospital later showed the tablet in his system consisted of 78 per cent rat poison.
Odhran Hearty Coburn (pictured in hospital) went into multi-organ failure after he took a £2 MDMA – or ecstasy tablet – while at the Belsonic festival in Belfast on June 25
Against all odds, the then 16-year-old pulled through and is now back at school part-time, although he is still going to rehabilitation and is without the use of his left arm and short-term memory.
Determined to spread awareness of the risks of taking drugs, his mother, Gráinne, recalled how she and her husband Alan were at a wedding in London when they got the call.
‘Just before the first dance, we got a call to say Odi was in the Belfast Mater Hospital in resuscitation and to call them immediately,’ said the mother-of-three, from Dundalk, Co. Louth.
Odi is pictured with his mother Gráinne
‘Seemingly, Odi had got himself to a paramedic at the concert and told them he didn’t feel well, that he was a type 1 diabetic and had taken insulin 15 minutes beforehand.
‘Within three minutes, he started seizing and convulsing. His temperature was 45 degrees and despite packing him in ice, it remained at 45 degrees for 39 hours.’
The couple endured a nightmare overnight stay in London as they waited for a flight, while receiving updates from the hospital that Odi was unlikey to see the next hour.
When they finally reached the hospital the following morning, Odi had gone into multi-organ failure.
‘He was hooked up to so many machines, which were the only things keeping him alive.
‘He had nothing. No bowels, no kidneys, no liver, no lungs, no heart and no brain. There was no activity. It was our worst nightmare,’ said Ms Hearty.
‘At the time, we didn’t know what had happened but later we found out Odi had either been given or had taken MDMA (or ecstasy tablet) at the concert and it took 72 hours for toxicology to show it contained 78 per cent rat poison, so our son didn’t stand a hope in hell of making it.’
Odi was brought to St Vincent’s Hospital in Dublin – a centre for excellence for the liver – as medics thought if they could just get that vital organ working again, the rest might follow.
For 33 days, Odi was given just a 1 per cent chance of survival but on the 34th day, he opened his eyes.
Toxicology reports at Belfast’s Mater Hospital later showed the tablet in his system consisted of 78 per cent rat poison. Odi is pictured in hospital
‘He tried to say something and just his expression told me that I had Odi back,’ his mother said.
Ms Hearty is now determined to show the harsh realities of what drugs can do by visiting post-primary schools and showing students the shocking images of Odi hooked up to life support machines.
She said: ‘If, by sharing these pictures, it will stop even one other child from taking MDMA, or any other drug, it will be worth it.’
Source: Read Full Article