Pubdate: Sat, 31 Dec 2011
Source: Calgary Herald (CN AB)
Copyright: 2011 Canwest Publishing Inc.
Contact: http://www2.canada.com/calgaryherald/letters.html
Website: http://www.calgaryherald.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/66
Author: Meghan Potkins
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mdma.htm (Ecstasy)

POWERFUL WARNING IN ECSTASY DEATH

Teen's Organs Donated

Days after Daniel Dahl died in hospital, his slender body overtaken 
by a mass of monitors, tubes and intravenous lines, his 18-year-old 
heart continued to beat.

The powerfully toxic drug that destroyed his liver and cooked his 
brain, ending his life on Dec. 19, had left the artist's strong heart 
untouched.

Within 23 hours of his death, Daniel's heart, lungs and pancreas were 
harvested for transplant.

The fact that small pieces of him endure means everything to mother 
Carol Dahl, who hopes her son's story will serve as a warning to others.

His funeral Friday in Calgary came one day after Alberta Health 
Services issued a warning to the public about the dangers of the 
street drug ecstasy.

Three deaths in Calgary, including Daniel's, in less than a month, 
prompted officials to sound the alarm.

There is no such thing as a "safe dose," Dr. Judy MacDonald, medical 
officer for AHS, said at a news conference Thursday.

Toxicology tests are not complete, but is believed that 10 days 
before his death, Daniel purchased and ingested up to seven tablets 
of the street drug ecstasy, or MDMA - an amphetamine known for 
side-effects ranging from feelings of euphoria to heart palpitations 
and organ failure.

It was at a house party three weeks before Christmas that Daniel, a 
burgeoning chef and graffiti artist, took the drug before continuing 
the party at a downtown bar.

Once at the bar, the group turned rowdy and Daniel was asked to 
leave. Bouncers guided the inebriated teen out of the bar, leaving 
him on the street with just socks on his feet and no coat. It would 
be a few minutes before friends realized that Daniel was missing.

A search party was assembled and Daniel's father went out in a car to 
look for his son. Carol estimates that Daniel had been missing for an 
hour and a half before they spotted him.

By around 2: 30 a.m., Daniel was back home, but his family could see 
something was terribly wrong.

Carol watched her son sweating and shivering at the same time, and 
she asked his friends what Daniel had taken.

"My husband had to get it out of them," recalls Carol. "The kids 
didn't want to tell him anything. They were hiding it.

"Finally, we said, 'You need to tell us,' and they said, 'Ecstasy.' "

Daniel's father, Jeff, recalling the recent death of 16-year-old Alex 
Kristof, the Calgary teen who had died from an overdose of ecstasy 
last month, decided to drive Daniel to the hospital immediately.

Daniel's body was hypothermic, but his head was on fire - doctors 
estimated his brain temperature was somewhere near 42 C.

"The hospital told us, 'If you hadn't taken him here, he would have 
died in his sleep,' " recalls Carol.

Daniel spent nearly a week in the intensive-care unit of the Peter 
Lougheed Centre before he was rushed to Edmonton for a liver transplant.

His organs were failing, but Carol said the family was hopeful 
because Daniel was responsive, awake and asking for ice chips to munch on.

But the teen took a turn for the worse almost 10 days after the 
overdose. Swelling in Daniel's brain ended his doctors' hopes for a 
transplant. The family was sent back to Calgary and within 24 hours, 
Daniel was dead.

At his funeral Friday, more than 500 mourners, mostly Daniel's 
friends, gathered in a northeast funeral chapel to pay tribute to the 
gangly teen with a wide smile and bright, blue eyes.

"(Daniel's) death has shown them the power of drugs," said Carol, 
standing outside with mourners following the funeral. "See these 
people here today? (So) many people are going to get off of ecstasy 
because of Daniel."

Many of the mourners wore a loose grey or black tuque - the kind that 
Daniel wore almost every day, his shaggy, dirty blond hair sprouting 
wildly from under the brim.

Daniel's best friend, Jake Horsman, wore a grey tuque in tribute to 
his friend. Standing outside the chapel, he said many of Daniel's 
friends have decided to stop taking drugs.

"So many, so many of them have just smartened up," said Horsman.

"He was so unique. He was one of a kind. I can't think of any other 
way to describe him."

And while the family is comforted that some good will come from 
Daniel's death, they are frustrated with the response from police.

Carol said she is concerned that police have not taken her son's case 
seriously and wants the people who sold the dugs to Daniel arrested.

On Friday, police confirmed that they are looking into the matter.

"We have taken a report from the medical examiner and it has been 
forwarded to the drug unit for review," said Jill McCormick, a 
spokeswoman with the Calgary Police Service.

"We take all cases of drug overdoses very seriously and we will be 
looking into the incident."

The Dahl family say they will pursue an investigation of their own if 
charges aren't laid and are considering a civil suit against the bar 
that evicted the teen the night he overdosed on ecstasy.

Carol said it's been a gruelling four weeks since her son's death and 
the pain was compounded when a few days after Daniel's death, his 
beloved old dog, Jose, passed away.

"She just couldn't live without him," said Carol of the 15-year-old 
dog. "We believe that she knew."

"It's been an impossible few weeks," admitted Carol as she took a 
break from receiving mourners outside the funeral chapel.

"I have the strength to get through today, but after, I don't know 
what I'll do."
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom