A Cautionary Tale...
Find a Conversation
| Sun, 02-24-2008 - 9:18pm |
It's been another scary day for my family today.
My oldest daughter, 16 and a cheerleader, left last Wednesday to attend/cheer for the high school wrestlers at the state tournament. She was due back early this afternoon.
This morning, I received a phone call informing me that, yes, she was on her way home. But that she came very, very close to not coming home at all.
Apparently, after the championship rounds were over last night and the two tiny high schools in this area had just crowned champions, some partying was going on in the hotel where the kids were staying. Apparently the chaperones were aware that there had been talk of partying but thought they'd said/done enough to prevent any of the girls from the cheerleading team from being involved.
Apparently, an older boy from the town 20 miles away from mine (who was at the tournament in support of his high school brother) gave my daughter a fast food restaurant cup filled with at least Jack Daniels and possibly something else. Despite the many conversations I've had with my daughter about alcohol (her father, my ex, is an alcoholic... the conversations have been many), she drank it.
The last thing she remembers is her heart beating very quickly and telling her friend that she thought she was going to die. This was, from what I've been told, about 2 this morning. The next thing she remembers is waking up in the school van, four hours into a six hour trip home.
In the meanwhile, I'm told that after my child lost control of bodily functions and began vomiting profusely in this hotel room, the "friend" ran to get the chaperone from another room at about 5 this morning. A doctor was brought into the room to see if she was all right and they got her cleaned up and on the bus, with instructions to stop at any town along the way if she should need urgent medical care.
She arrived home shaky and sick, but awake this afternoon, after having spent the day in the school van alternately vomiting and sleeping. The doctor here was called. Because of so much time passing, he said it'd be impossible to tell if any drugs had been slipped into her drink, as those drugs pass through the system really quickly. However, at the least, she's had some alcohol poisoning.
The chaperones fully believe she was drugged. They said they've never seen a drunk person that completely out of it. I wasn't there, so I can't really say one way or the other... though the fast heartbeat certainly seems suspicious.
I think she's going to be ok though.
No clue what her consequences are going to be. It was a school event, which means it's treated just as if she'd gotten drunk at school. As an aside, she's a straight a student, at the top of her class, has never been in trouble in her life... not that it's any excuse or that it changes the possibility of consequences. And it probably *shouldn't* change the consequences.
Beyond that, I'm just so upset about so many different aspects of this that I'm not even sure which ones need to be focused on and which ones need to be let go. I mean... my child is on a cheerleading trip WITH sponsors. An older guy gave her alcohol and may very well have slipped her a mickey as well. The sponsors decide to "risk it" with the trip home and stop along the way if she got any worse.
But then again, I allowed her to go on the trip in the first place. I didn't go and stay in her room, I just blindly trusted that everything would be ok.
And my kid accepted a drink from a guy. He offered it. She took it. She could have been sexually assaulted (it apparently didn't appear that she was. She was in the room with other kids and fully dressed.)
She could have died.
She could have died.
I don't even know why I'm going on and on about this. I guess, if nothing else... If you have a daughter, tell her not to accept opened/ prepared/ not in the container they came in drinks from ANYONE. I don't know if I ever launched too far into that one. The alcohol conversation, as I said, has been a regular one. But the notion of what happened happening as it did just never occurred to me.
-S

Pages
I'm so sorry you all had to go through this!
Glad she came through all right-so frightening!
I'm glad your dd is home safe, and alive. Thanks for sharing that. We do need to warn our teens, over and over again, that these things happen.
DS24 told us that one night when he and his gf were at a bar, she got really 'drunk' after just one drink and they suspect someone had slipped some drug in her drink. She rarely drinks more than two, and even after she's had three, DS said he'd never seen her like she was that night after having only one. She didn't get sick at all, but she needed help walking and she was slurring her speech.
-----------------------------------------------
http://www.pnhp.org/news/2009/october/meet_the_new_health_.php
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DQTBYQlQ7yM
What a horrible experience for you all! I am so glad she is okay. I think one of the things that would make me the angriest is the fact that she had alcohol poisoning and this doctor just sent her home on the bus with a bunch of people who realistically probably don't know the signs to look for. And who is to say that if they thought she needed a hospital that they would have been able to find one!
Wow there is a lot to think about in this whole story. I will certainly be reinforcing with dd about opened drinks. I am about 99% sure she doesn't drink, but it can happen with a glass of lemonade or pop too, not just alcohol. That is something they need to hear too, it isn't just when they are drinking alcoholic drinks, but any kind of drinks.
I'm glad she is okay, now take a big deep breath and sigh with relief!
OMG!!! How scary!
I haven't talked a whole lot with N about accepting open/prepared drinks from anyone, but this tells me that I need to.
Wow, I wish there was something I could say to help you but there are so many aspects to this. I would be furious with the teachers and chaperone's who let this happen; and with my daughter who made the choice to drink the alcohol. Who would have ever thought this type thing would/could happen on a school sponsored trip like this. Is your daughter in school today (Monday)? I don't know the drinking policy in our district, I can imagine it must be pretty harsh and would probably have to be adhered to. Big hugs and hopes that your DD doesn't have to pay too heavy a price for a dumb choice. Let us know how it turns out.
Lisa
Was there a reason they did not call you when she initially got sick?
OMG, how awful. Surely, your dd was stupid for accepting a drink from anyone, in particular a virtual stranger. However, I'd be very upset with the way it was handled personally.
The next thing she remembers is waking up in the school van, four hours into a six hour trip home.
In the meanwhile, I'm told that after my child lost control of bodily functions and began vomiting profusely in this hotel room, the "friend" ran to get the chaperone from another room at about 5 this morning. A doctor was brought into the room to see if she was all right and they got her cleaned up and on the bus, with instructions to stop at any town along the way if she should need urgent medical care.
She was 4 hours into a trip home, meaning that some people had to carry her onto the bus if she was unable to do so on her own, right?? And no one thought at any point to postpone the trip home and bring your dd to an ER and contact you ASAP??
That's just odd, don't you think? Irresponsible at the very least?? I hope you take issue with the school on this.
<<
That is one of the scariest things I've every read on this board!
Pages