Stephanie Thorpe had met with friends at the Postal Order pub in Blackburn on the afternoon of Saturday, June 25 last year but died later that day after consuming half an ecstasy tablet
A music-loving mother died when her temperature rocketed to 42C after taking half an ecstasy tablet before a festival.
Stephanie Thorpe, 32, met her pals at Blackburn’s Postal Order pub before their big night out on Saturday June 25, 2023. Moments before the group left to head to the Restricted Forest Festival at Witton Park, she was seen taking half an ecstasy tablet.
When she arrived, she was dancing and enjoying herself, but at 6.30pm she suddenly collapsed. When paramedics arrived her temperature had soared to 41.6C – with her core temperature spiking to around 44C. Any temperature over 40C is considered “extreme” and potentially fatal. Preston Coroner’s Court heard that her condition was “unsurvivable”.
Stephanie, 32, was taken to the Royal Blackburn Hospital but her organs had already started to fail and she was later pronounced dead. An inquest held yesterday (April 18) at Preston Coroner’s Court heard that once a person’s core temperature reaches 42C the chances of living are highly unlikely.
The inquest, attended by several of Stephanie’s friends and relatives, heard that although Stephanie had only been seen taking half a ‘White Dove’ tablet it is possible she took more while at the festival. She had previously taken ecstasy at dance music events but had never had a bad experience.
Dr Mark Clayton, an expert in medical provision and event planning at music festivals who has vast experience in how ecstasy is used and affects individuals, explained how a ‘perfect storm’ had led to the circumstances which caused Stephanie’s death.
“If someone is drinking alcohol your body is less able to break down MDMA (methylenedioxymethamphetamine) because the liver is focused on the alcohol and that can also cause dehydration,” Dr Clayton said. “When you’re dehydrated it hyper concentrates all substances in the blood and increases the relative concentration. If the environment is above 20C you are more likely to suffer harm from ecstasy and more likely to suffer serotonin syndrome or a high temperature.
“Once you cross the 20C threshold the risk of harm increases and there were multiple factors at play. Stephanie was dehydrated; she was seen dancing a lot and sweating and it was a very hot day so her ability to lose heat was impaired.
“She was only seen taking half a tablet in the beer garden but once you take the first dose it saturates the system so if you take more those pathways are already working at full capacity. Multi-dosing is related to an increased risk of harm.”
Dr Clayton explained that once someone begins to suffer from taking ecstasy, without “active cooling or organ support”, their chances of survival are almost non-existent. “Once you pass 42C the likelihood of survival is very, very low,” he added.
The inquest also heard of issues with medical provision and the supply of free drinking water at the dance music festival. Dr Clayton said that although anyone with a licensed premises or event is required by law to provide free drinking water festival-goers often fail to drink it when they are “in the zone” and enjoying themselves.
“People don’t drink water at festivals because it’s not easy to get hold of,” he added. “Any licensed premises has to provide drinking water free of charge but they can charge for the glass. People who are ‘in the zone’ don’t want to go off and drink water.”
The inquest heard that ecstasy is “endemic” at music festivals with 87 per cent of people admitting to taking illicit substances in the last 12 months. “It’s part of festival culture,” Dr Clayton said.
Speaking directly to Stephanie’s friends, and those who do take ecstasy at music festivals, Senior Coroner Dr James Adeley said: “If you are attending festivals just be careful please. On the other hand I don’t want to be an entire killjoy but take it gently please.”
Returning a conclusion of accidental death, as opposed to the alternative of a drug-related death, the coroner said: “This is a situation where a young woman is taking a tablet that she doesn’t know the strength of and combined with a range of other contributing factors – the heat of the day – in my view this was an accidental death.”