A festival goer collapsed and started having bouts of fits after she was ‘duped’ into taking a puff on a stranger’s vape.
Chloe Hammerton, 26, 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.
Within a minute of taking a puff she collapsed and began drifting in and out of consciousness and was unable to speak or move any part of her body.
Natasha, who was stood next to her queuing for food, said she also started fitting, while her pupils kept constricting and dilating.
She added that she had to wait over an hour for any medical response from the festival staff after the incident, which almost cost her partner’s life.
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.
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.
Natasha (right), who is a recruitment consultant, posted on social media criticising the festival staff for their ‘incompetence and lack of urgency’ during the ordeal
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.’
