The mother of a teenage boy who almost died after drinking vodka at school has issued a warning to other parents and teenagers.
Jo Owen shared her story in the hopes that other parents would become aware of peer pressure after her son drank shots of vodka brought to school by the “popular kids”.
He ended up in hospital after his mother found him slumped over in their garden. His condition deteriorated and his mother knew something was wrong. He was slurring his words and vomiting violently during what the mother described as the worst 24 hours of her life.
At first the paramedics who were called to the scene suspected meningitis, a possible stroke, or the effects of a bad migraine but after a few hours a tox report revealed that the boy had enough alcohol in his system to be more than 2 times over the drink drive limit.
Ms Owen said that her son wanted to fit in and be like the other boys, who brought the vodka to school in coke bottles. She reminded parents that peer pressure is real and it can be deadly.