Mum warns parents after watching her son die as night out turned to tragedy

A mum is sharing the tragic story of her son’s death as a cautionary tale to those attending Glastonbury and other festivals or parties this summer. Fiona Spargo-Mabbs's son, 16-year-old Dan, died in 2014 after taking a super-strength dose of MDMA at a rave which resulted in his temperature soaring past 42 degrees Celsius and saw his organs shut down one by one.

He passed away in a hospital bed with his parents, Fiona and Tim Spargo-Mabbs, as well as his older brother Jacob by his side. Dan had persuaded his mum to let him to go a party with friends but instead went to an illegal rave, the first time he had attended such an event, and took MDMA with four of his friends, who were fine in the aftermath, without knowing his bag contained a lethal amount.

He disappeared from his friends’ sight during the evening and they eventually found him propped up outside with paramedics before he was taken to A&E. By this time the amount of MDMA in his blood was 12 times stronger than had caused fatalities in the past, as his mum told The Sun.

He underwent procedures to relieve the swelling on his legs, or else they would have to be amputated, and machines at King’s College Hospital Liver Unit worked for his heart, lungs, liver, kidneys, and circulatory system. Despite the best efforts of staff, Dan died days later and while Fiona assured they weren’t naive to drug use among teenagers and admitted he was the more “curious” brother but “managed risk quite well”. His parents later learned that it was the “third time he had taken anything” and he had been “reluctant to go to this rave”.

In the decade since the tragedy, Fiona and Tim set up the DSM Foundation in his name to educate parents, teachers and children about drugs and alcohol. With reports that super-strength ecstasy pills with potentially life-threatening amounts of MDMA are on the rise, the pair are intensifying their efforts.

The report comes from drug charity The Loop which conducted tests on drugs seized at Manchester’s Parklife Festival in Bristol. Some pills contained up to 300mg of MDMA, which is three times the common dose for an adult and can be lethal for some.

The charity, and Dan’s parents, fear that eager festivalgoers who may be used to taking lower-strength pills may be caught unawares by the new super-strength drugs. They also urged parents to have open, honest conversations with their children to ensure they can be as prepared as possible for any potential risks.

Fiona said: “I am concerned because it puts especially young, inexperienced users, or anybody to be honest, at risk.” She advised parents to “work through scenarios” of what could happen with their children, ensure they know where the welfare or medical areas are at festivals and vitally: “Make sure that they know that they can always call you.

"If anything is going haywire parents need to make sure they are there at the end of a phone and ready to pick them up if they need to get away.” For festivalgoers, Fiona noted that dehydration is also a key issue and advised them to keep “a big water bottle” on them.

She also urged them to be wary of accepting substances from unknown sources such as: “pills that look the same and have gone through the same pill press, but unless someone has made sure the ingredients are really thoroughly mixed and it is the same batch, you just can’t tell if one pill is going to be the same as another. And definitely with a little bag of white powder you had no idea.”

Glastonbury has a strict drug policy. Bosses told The Sun that dealing or using illegal drugs at the festival is not condoned and warned those who take drugs on-site risk being evicted.