Leah Betts

Leah Betts
A November 1995 photograph of Leah Betts in a coma which was widely circulated in the media
Born	(1977-11-01)1 November 1977 Essex, England
Died	16 November 1995(1995-11-16) (aged 18) Great Burstead, England

Leah Sarah Betts (1 November 1977 – 16 November 1995) was a schoolgirl from Latchingdon in Essex, England. She is notable for the extensive media coverage that followed her death fifteen days after her 18th birthday. On 11 November, she took an ecstasy (MDMA) tablet, and then drank approximately 7 litres of water in a 90-minute period. Four hours later, she collapsed into a coma, from which she did not recover.

The press reported that Betts' death was an example of the dangers of illegal drugs in general, and MDMA in particular. Her 45-year-old mother Dorothy May Betts had died of a heart attack in 1992, but, otherwise Betts was from a quite ordinary family; she lived with her father Paul Betts (an ex-police officer), her stepmother (a nurse) and her brother William, who was born seven years after her. The fact that her life reflected so many other middle-class families in Britain may have contributed to the sense of shock around the country after her death. It was suggested that the pill she had taken was from a "contaminated batch". Not long afterward, a 1,500-site poster campaign used a photograph of a smiling Leah Betts (not a picture of her on her deathbed, as some sources erroneously claim) with the caption "Sorted: Just one ecstasy tablet took Leah Betts". The campaign made no mention of the crucial role water intoxication played in her death. Alternative rock band Chumbawamba responded with their own 'anti-poster' reading "Distorted: you are just as likely to die from eating a bay leaf as from an ecstasy tablet".

Betts died on the morning of 16 November 1995, within five days of being admitted to hospital, after her life support machine was switched off. Her funeral took place on 1 December 1995 at Christ Church, Latchingdon. She was buried alongside her mother at St Mary Magdalen church in Great Burstead, Essex.

A subsequent inquest determined that her death was actually not directly due to MDMA consumption, but rather the result of the large quantity of water she had consumed, apparently in observation of an advisory warning commonly given to ravers to drink water to avoid dehydration resulting from the exertion of dancing continuously for hours. Leah had been at home with friends and had not been dancing, yet consumed about 7 litres (12 pints) of water in less than 90 minutes, resulting in water intoxication and hyponatremia, which in turn led to serious swelling of the brain, irreparably damaging it. However, the ecstasy tablet may have reduced her ability to urinate, exacerbating her hyponatremia; a symptom known as SIADH. At the inquest it was stated by toxicologist John Henry, who had previously warned the public of the danger of MDMA causing death by dehydration, "If Leah had taken the drug alone she might well have survived. If she had drunk the amount of water alone she would have survived."