Student dies after using two to three ‘big bottles’ of laughing gas a day

A student who may have died from long-term use of laughing gas had inhaled two to three “large bottles” of the substance a day, an inquest into her death has heard.

Berkshire Coroner’s Court heard Ellen Mercer, 24, was taken to hospital by emergency services in the early hours of February 9 last year after she reported she was unable to walk and would collapse when trying to walk. fall.

She was treated by paramedics at Wexham Park Hospital’s emergency department but died 24 hours later, at 12.52am on February 10.

Senior coroner Heidi Connor told the inquest that “part of the cause of her death” was linked to nitrous oxide, also known as laughing gas.

A post-mortem report found Ms Mercer’s death was due to bilateral pulmonary thromboembolism, deep vein thrombosis and “long-term complications of nitrous oxide use”, the inquest heard.

On February 8, emergency medical technician Michaela Kirtley of Phoenix Response Services, a contractor for Mid-South Ambulance Service, arrived at Ms. Mercer’s home.

When she arrived at the scene, Ms. Mercer’s boyfriend took her to a bedroom.

“I noticed this room,” she said.

“There were no sheets on the bed at all. Just the duvet, which was badly stained. The room was empty.”

She said the scene made it clear to her that she was dealing with a “vulnerable group”.

She said Ms Mercer was “speaking normally” and the only vital sign that was outside the normal range was her heart rate, which could be due to anxiety.

Ms Mercer told her she had suffered burns to her legs after a gas can was thrown on them and she had been unable to walk or use the toilet for two weeks.

She said the 24-year-old looked six months pregnant.

She examined the wound on Ms. Mercer’s leg, which she described as a “kitten.”

Ms. Mercer’s boyfriend showed her a box of gas cans, which she recognized as nitrous oxide.

“I’ve never seen a bottle that big,” she said.

She told the inquest the cans weighed 600g and Ms Mercer’s boyfriend said she drank “two to three bottles” a day but had slowed down her drinking over the past few weeks.

Ms Mercer told her she had passed out and the bottle had fallen into her lap.

An ambulance then took Ms Mercer to hospital.

At the time of the student’s death, it was not illegal to possess laughing gas for drug purposes. In November 2023, it was banned by the government and classified as a Class C drug.

The investigation continues.