Teenager out of ecstasy coma

JOJO MOYES

A teenager was recovering in a Stornoway hospital last night after spending 13 hours in a coma as a result of drug abuse.

David Graham,17, was taken to the Western Isles hospital on Saturday morning after his mother found him having convulsions in his bedroom at their home in Newmarket, near Laxdale on the island of Lewis.

Police in Stornoway last night said that three youths were to be reported to the procurator fiscal in connection with the incident - the second drugs- induced coma involving a Lewis teenager in the past two months.

In November, 15-year-old David Stewart from Point spent 24 hours in a coma after consuming a cocktail of ecstasy and paracetamol at a rave in Stornoway.

David Graham's mother, Patricia Graham, a former nurse, said her son had come home shortly after midnight on Friday and told her he was going straight to bed. "I then heard a noise about 3.45 am. I went into his bedroom and he was having convulsions," she said.

"From my nursing experience I knew things were far from right and I telephoned the doctor. As soon as he arrived he called an ambulance and David was taken to the emergency department.

"He was in a coma for 13 hours. However the hospital has now told me that he is recovering well.

"It was not ecstasy but I am not prepared to say what it was as the police are still making inquiries," she said.

Mrs Graham added: "David has come through this and realised his mistake. I hope it will be a warning to all teenagers never to take anything, especially when they do not know what it is."

As he lay in a coma, she had asked doctors to let his friends in to see him connected to the tubes and machines, hoping that it would act as a warning to them not to take drugs.

"I had no idea on Saturday morning whether David was going to live or not," she said. "They have to see what taking these awful things can do to you."

Meanwhile, Helen Cousins, who spent 24 hours in a drugs-induced coma, was out of intensive care last night, following a relapse.

Miss Cousins, 19, from Peterborough, had collapsed after taking the drug on New Year's Eve. Despite a rapid recovery, she had developed breathing problems on Friday and underwent a tracheotomy.

A 30-year-old man has been remanded in police custody following an appearance in court charged with supplying her with ecstasy.