A 19-year-old university student died after taking MDMA at a Halloween rave in Liverpool, an inquest has heard. Olivia Wojciechowska, a second-year business student at Liverpool John Moores University, attended the party at Blackstone Street Warehouse on November 1 last year, where she consumed the drug.
According to the inquest at Liverpool Coroner's Court, Olivia took a taxi to her friend Scarlett Tonna's home and told her she had MDMA in her possession. They went to the rave in Vauxhall at around 4am, and Ms Tonna saw Olivia take the drug one to two hours later. Another attendee also witnessed Olivia taking the drug before she collapsed at approximately 10.05pm.
Olivia was taken to a welfare tent where staff used bags of ice to control her temperature. An ambulance was called, and she arrived at Royal Liverpool Hospital at 11.45pm. She was intubated and placed on a ventilator, and received medication and dialysis after her liver and kidney functions deteriorated. On November 3, she was approved for a liver transplant and transferred to Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham two days later. However, a CT scan on November 5 confirmed she was unlikely to survive, and she died on November 7, two days before the scheduled transplant.
A post-mortem examination gave the cause of death as multi-organ failure, acute liver failure, and drug consumption. Coroner Helen Rimmer stated: 'I accept the medical cause of death as multi-organ failure, acute liver failure and drug intoxication. She had consumed ecstasy at a rave event in Liverpool on November 1 with fatal consequences.'
Following her death, Olivia, who was a registered organ donor, donated her lungs and heart. Her funeral took place on December 12 at St Colmcille's Church in East Belfast, Northern Ireland. A tribute site described her as a 'special girl' with an 'unforgettable, high pitched crazy laugh' and 'a way of making everything feel lighter.'
