A thoughtful and insightful look at the tragic 1995 death of fifteen-year-old Anna Wood, caused by the recreational drug “Ecstasy”.
| Author: | Bronwyn Donaghy |
| Publisher: | Angus and Robertson, 1996 x2, 1997 x2, 1998, 1999 x2. Harper Collins, 2000. |
| ISBN: | 0207191840 9780207191848 |
| Characteristics: | 357 pages, Paperback ; 24 cm. |
| Source: |
Anna Wood: the facts, the fury, the future covers in detail the tragic death of Anna Wood due to an overdose of the recreational drug Ecstasy.
The first part of the book talks about Anna’s beautiful, friendly nature who was ready to help anyone in need. She was against recreational drug use and would often discourage her friends from using them.
Each person involved gets a chapter each covering their point of view, which is a good way to present what happened. It’s interesting to see the story from different aspects.
Despite Anna’s stance on drugs, one outing proved fatal. I suspect she was having fun with friends and was not in her normal frame of mind. Encouraged by the joy others were having taking drugs without problems, she succumbed and took an Ecstasy tablet.
Soon she would die.
I think there were a number of factors contributing to her death:
- Anna took a full tablet rather than only half, like experienced users did.
- She drank more water than her body could remove.
- Accompanying friends didn’t recognise there was a problem soon enough.
- Her friends didn’t know how to treat Anna’s overdose (which being regular users is somewhat unexpected)
- Anna’s dire health state wasn’t recognised soon enough and was taken home rather than to a hospital.
There’s a chapter especially for children and teens which tries to reason with them why recreational drugs are dangerous. Hopefully at least some will heed the warning. Looking at the number of times the book was published, I think it would have been on many a school curriculum, so the right readership is getting the important message the book is offering .
Losing a child at such a young age would be traumatic for the parents, and Tony Wood has been active trying to prevent more deaths. He is against drug testing at concerts, saying it won’t help. But I think it should at least be trialled, and see if it helps. Banning drugs won’t help. Prohibition didn’t work in the 1930s. I think education is the key and this book is an excellent start.
Overall, it’s a good read. For ways to treat overdosing, there are better sources, and these should come from the health authorities.
