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A festival goer collapsed and started having bouts of fits after she was ‘duped’ into taking a puff on a stranger’s vape as part of a disturbing new trend.
Chloe Hammerton, 26, who lives in Southampton, was attending the Isle of Wight festival on Saturday with her partner Natasha Ward when the nightmare unfolded.
They and her brother William were approached by a man who encouraged her to try his vape.
Natasha, who was stood next to her queuing for food, claims within a minute of taking a puff she collapsed and began drifting in and out of consciousness
She said Chloe was unable to speak or move any part of her body and that she also started fitting, while her pupils kept constricting and dilating.
She claimed that she had to wait over an hour for any medical response from the festival staff after the incident – which organisers deny.
Chloe Hammerton collapsed and started having bouts of fits after she was ‘duped’ into taking a puff on a stranger’s vape
The 26-year old, who lives in Southampton, was attending the Isle of Wight festival on Saturday with her partner Natasha Ward and her brother William when she was approached by a man who encouraged her to try his vape
Natasha, who is a recruitment consultant, posted on social media criticising the festival staff for their ‘incompetence and lack of urgency’ during the ordeal.
She said that Chloe’s collapse was called in as a ‘crash call’, which is used to indicate when a person is suffering a cardiac arrest, which later proved not to be the case, but medics were still slow to respond.
Natasha claimed that Chloe, who works in the ambulance service, would have died if she really had gone into cardiac arrest as there was ‘no equipment, medication or staff qualified’ to help her.
She said she was left ‘begging and screaming’ for help while festival staff sat and stared at Chloe laying on the floor.
At one point, William was forced to run to the one of the festival’s welfare tents, but was unable to find any medics and instead had to ask for help from volunteers who were ‘disrespectful, patronising and unhelpful’, Natasha claimed.
She added that she was finally offered help by a nurse from the crowd and her sister-in-law and a student nurse, Sophie, who changed the outcome of the situation.
Vape spiking is a worrying new trend and has seen warnings issued by the police.
Emma Sugrue-Lawrence is another victim and told Cosmopolitan she was on a night out with friends in Wolverhampton when a man offered to buy her a drink.
She said she declined the drink, but later saw the man again standing near her group of friends in the smoking area outside.
Emma explained on Facebook how she offered the man her vape to try, which he then took to the toilet. ‘I asked him for my vape back and started vaping it, within 10 minutes I started to feel unwell,’ she said.
Emma continued: ‘I told my mate I needed to go outside, by the time I got out the club and across the path my legs went and I couldn’t stand up.’
The mum of three, who is also a support worker for people with drug and addiction issues, added ‘I knew I had been spiked, from then my body started to shut down. I couldn’t move at all, not one single part of me.’
People attending Glastonbury this week have been told not to bring disposable vapes to the festival as part of organiser’s efforts to ‘reduce, reuse and recycle’ plastics.
The festival updated it packing ‘what not to bring’ guidance last week, banning disposable vapes from the site as ‘they pollute the environment and can be hazardous at waste centers’.
Emma Sugrue-Lawrence, 43, couldn’t move normally for two days after her electronic cigarette was laced with suspected mamba spray while on a night out in Wolverhampton
Natasha (right), who is a recruitment consultant, posted on social media criticising the Isle of Wight festival staff for their ‘incompetence and lack of urgency’ during the ordeal
Isle of Wight organisers said they were ‘confident’ staff dealt with the incident ‘in a timely manner’ and that ‘an appropriate medical practitioner’ was on site within five minutes of Chloe’s collapse.
They added that her condition was assessed as ‘non-life-threatening’ and she was transported to the on site hospital.
Natasha said in her post on Facebook: ‘We are so so so grateful for the amazing support and help we DID get, and that she is still with us here today – I could not live without her, and dread to think what actually could’ve happened, or what one more inhalation would’ve done.
‘She was left to die by the IOW Festival and they probably won’t even care because she didn’t, so it won’t effect their insurance or profits, but for anyone attending in future, please understand if you experience a medical emergency on their site you cannot rely on getting the help you need.’
Natasha also criticised the police at the event as they ‘didn’t conduct proper drug testing’ and people weren’t properly searched for drugs on the way in.
An Isle of Wight spokesperson said: ‘We operate a zero tolerance policy for anyone attempting to bring drugs to the festival and have robust systems in place to deal with anyone who attempts to do so.
‘This was an isolated incident dealt with quickly and professionally by all teams on site and no further reports of this nature have been recorded.
‘Our event medical team employs a wide range of appropriately qualified healthcare professionals. These fully trained individuals work 24 hours a day across our medical facilities on site.
‘Regarding the incident reported on social media, we are confident the team dealt with it in a timely manner, with an appropriate medical practitioner on site within 5 minutes and the patient’s condition assessed as non life-threatening and subsequently transported to the on site hospital.
‘The safety and wellbeing of attendees is our utmost priority and alongside our partners in the police, security and medical teams, we work incredibly hard over the festival weekend to ensure everyone is looked after.’
Hampshire Police said: ‘We are investigating following a report of a woman becoming unwell after using a vape at the Isle of Wight Festival.
‘It has been reported that on the evening of Saturday, 17 June a 26-year-old woman was offered a vape by a man while at the festival.
‘After using a small amount of the vape she became unwell and required medical assistance.
‘The matter is under investigation. Officers are in contact with the woman and will be carrying out drugs testing to help further the investigation.’
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