Devastated mum shares shocking photo of son in final hours after taking party drug
A mother has shared a shocking photo of a teenager in his final hours after taking MDMA to show the dangers of drug use.
Reece Murphy, 16, died in hospital on July 2 after suffering a bad reaction to the Class A party drug.
His mother, Sarah Lush, described the teen as “kind, funny and caring” and released the images of her son receiving medical treatment in a bid to deter other youngsters from experimenting.
Police believed that Reece, and a 30-year-old man who was also hospitalised, had taken MDMA.
Ms Lush said her son had probably done drugs before, but was found seriously ill on July 1 at a house in Taunton, Somerset, in England.
“My heart is empty, I want to wake up and it’s all a dream. I can’t imagine my life without him in it,” Ms Lush said.
“I’m never going to hear his voice or laugh again. It’s all surreal at the moment and I’m not ready to accept it.”
Reece lived with his mother in Dorchester, Dorset, and was planning to start a college course in demolition.
His mother praised hospital staff who “fought for him” until his death.
“A majority of you may think drugs are all good and fun and games but at the end of the day they’re not, because it can end someone’s life, just like poor Reece’s,” she wrote in a Facebook post.
“Reece had done it a few times before and was okay, so he thought he was safe, but you just don’t know.
“Please don’t take drugs, they ruin lives and families.”
Ms Lush said he took a tablet with friends and there was something in it that gave him a bad reaction.
“It shut down his organs, one by one. He had two nurses working on him 24 hours a day,” she said.
“They never left his side or stopped fighting for him for a second.
“In spite of that, Reece just kept getting worse and in the end there was nothing more they could do.
“It would have been cruel to him because all the medication he was on it started to take its toll on his body.”
A fundraising page has been started to pay for Reece’s funeral.
A spokesman for Avon and Somerset Constabulary said they were carrying out enquiries in the local area, “focusing on when, where and how the victims obtained the drug”.
