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'HORRIFIC' DEATH OF COKE MAN
‘Drug user's suicidal rampage as his body 'dissolved'
A 21-Year-old builder died from a rare condition after taking cocaine that caused his muscles to dissolve and major organs to fail, an inquest heard.
Jady Nicholas died last April after a four-day ordeal in University College Hospital that left doctors baffled.
Mr Nicholas, who lived in Maida Vale, experienced “utopian highs” sending him on a suicidal rampage though Mayfair ending in his arrest, a jury at Westminster Coroner’s Court was told on Monday.
Mr Nicholas suffered a rare reaction called Excited Delirium Death Syndrome after taking just a gram of the highly addictive drug.
His muscle tissue “dissolved” flooding his bloodstream with toxic acid. His kidneys, liver and lungs collapsed with doctors powerless to save him.
Coroner Dr Paul Knapman concluded that cocaine was the catalyst.
He said: “Cocaine abuse is, sadly, not so unusual in young people.”
And a spokesman for Drug Watch said: “This horrific story should act as a wake-up call to thousands of young people using this kind of amount without a second thought every weekend.”
Mr Nicholas, believing he was being hunted by “killers with knives”, charged into the Institute of Directors in Pall Mall and tried to jump head first out of a fourth floor window.
His forehead busted a pane of “bomb-protected” glass but his body snagged and two cleaners dragged him back to safety.
Police later found with his trousers around his knees trying to smash his head into the side of a skip.
“He wasn’t aware of our presence,” said ambulance man Lee Hyatt.
“He was taking a breath every two seconds and his temperature and heart beat was double the normal rate. I suspected ecstasy.”
But a toxicology report found no traces of the recreational dance drug revealing just over £50 worth of cocaine in his system.
Forensic scientist Denise Stanworth said: “On rare occasions cocaine can cause a massive adrenalin rush causing seizures and respiratory failure. In recent years we have witnessed an increasing phenomenon called Excited Delirium Death Syndrome that sends users into bizarre, excitable behaviour with feelings of increased strength and high adrenalin levels causing sudden death. There have been relatively few cocaine related deaths reported.”
Jady’s father Terry Nicholas said: “It was not simply recreational, although it started out that way. It dominated his life.” |
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