A gym receptionist, who vowed with a friend to get ‘off their heads’ at a music festival, died from ecstasy poisoning, an inquest revealed.
Kelsey Corps, 20, collapsed after taking two tablets along with vodka whilst attending the Wonderwood Festival in July last year.
A friend tried to find water to revive her but was unable to locate any and her condition deteriorated.
She was admitted to a hospital in a coma where she tested positive for Covid and she suffered a cardiac arrest. She died the following morning.
In a statement read to the Preston hearing, her friend Bradley Graham, said: “Kelsey was fun-loving and enjoyed having a laugh and did use recreational drugs when at a party.
“She enjoyed going to raves and would use drugs there and she said it was fun and a laugh.
“I wanted to enter her world she was in and go to Wonderwood Festival, she asked me to go and I agreed. We talked about getting off our heads and agreed to purchase some tablets.
“On the Saturday morning, I was drinking cider and she was drinking gin or vodka. I cannot remember when we took the tablets, but it wasn’t until others were doing them.
“I do not know how many she took – I just remember thinking she had two and I had three.
“There were people passing bags of drugs around and I was unable to focus properly due to what I had taken. She started asking for water and I tried to get her some but I could not get any.
“I tried to get her to the security staff so they could get her to an ambulance. I eventually did and they put her in a wheelchair. I was waiting for her to stand up but she did not and after this, I rang her family.”
Kelsey’s sister Jasmine said: “Kelsey was sociable, funny and enjoyed life.
“She had taken ecstasy before but she knew her limit. I do not think she used other drugs. She was a receptionist and would go to work, work hard and then go out with her friends. She also enjoyed spending evenings at home with her family. She was very funny and made everyone laugh.
“She went to Wonderwood Festival and she wanted Bradley Graham to come along at short notice. That evening we received a phone call from Brad to say she was in an ambulance and that she had taken two pills max but he didn’t know if she had taken any other drugs that day.
“I could not see any messages on her phone prior to the event that she had bought drugs that day.”
Dr Simon Vaughan, who worked in the intensive care unit at Blackpool Victoria Hospital, said: “The original expectation was that she would survive with supportive management and we had a conversation with her mother on the phone about how Kelsey had collapsed and was found unconscious after having a short seizure.
“But Kelsey started to deteriorate very seriously and by 1:25 am her condition was so severe, her red blood cells were deteriorating.
“This is a recognised but unexpected reaction after the ingestion of ecstasy.”
Det Con Rachel Crossley of Lancashire Police said: “The evidence Brad gave was that Kelsey had taken two tablets with her which she had at home.
“He said he had purchased a number of red tablets and he gave us the address to where he had purchased them from. There has not been any further action taken due to insufficient evidence.
“From the evidence from Jasmine and Brad, Kelsey had previously taken ecstasy. There is no information to suggest she had been coerced.
“Brad said he had struggled to get any water for Kelsey and that is something which will be raised with the event organiser moving forward. If someone asks for water, you give it to them.”
A post-mortem examination showed high levels of MDMA in Kelsey’s system. Her cause of death was multi-organ failure and Ecstasy poisoning.
Recording a conclusion of drug-related death, coroner Sarah Sutherland told Kelsey’s family: “I accept Kelsey died after ingesting recreational drugs. I cannot begin to imagine what you have been through, I am sorry for your loss.”
