Posted on 06/04/2019 9:53:32 AM PDT by Gamecock
A BRIT teacher accidentally killed herself with a lethal overdose after she swallowed a bag of cocaine in a first-class airport lounge while waiting to fly home to Dubai.
Victoria Buchanan, 42, ingested the resealable bag when she realised she still had the drug in her possession while drinking a glass of champagne after she checked in with her luggage.
The mum-of-three had earlier acquired £200 worth of the Class A drug during a family visit to the UK with her husband Mark who is a shipping company boss.
She had £60 worth of cocaine left when she decided to swallow it in the hope of getting it back home – and moments later she collapsed with a severe seizure when the bag burst in her stomach.
The bag of cocaine was discovered during a post-mortem exam.
Mrs Buchanan originally from Kilmarnock, Scotland, had moved to Dubai in 2010 and worked as a teacher in the United Arab Emirates while her husband was believed to be head of fleet personnel for a shipping firm.
She was known for helping impoverished children in Nepal through a charity set up to improve their education.
An inquest heard the tragedy occurred on March 29 last year after Mrs Buchanan had spent a week in Britain with her family as part of her annual visit to the UK.
Her husband told the Manchester hearing: "We were aware she would take small amounts of cocaine occasionally and it was something we did together, I had left the UK a few days before not a lot was left not that that matters now."
In a statement Dr Jon Hopper of Wythenshawe Hospital said Mrs Buchanan was brought by the ambulance at 2.34pm following a cardiac arrest at Manchester Airport.
He said: “Onlookers thought she was intoxicated but then she started having a fit and off duty nurse searched through her handbag and called her husband who told her an epipen was in her bag as she had had previous reactions to palm oil.
"She died at 6.24pm on March 30. During her post-mortem a plastic resealable bag was found in her stomach and it was ruled that further examination was required."
A toxicology report read to the inquest showed amounts of cocaine at less than 0.4 milligram per litre of blood which is "consistent with recreational use".
It added that the "obvious concusion" was that the bag, which was 10cm by 6cm, burst and cocaine leaked into her stomach.
Det Sgt Alex Wild said: "There was no third party involvement, that was the conclusion, there were no charges brought or further actions taken."
Mrs Buchanan's mother Irene Dignon, who in her 70s, said: "We couldn't understand why she would risk something for such a small amount – we couldn't understand that. There was no evidence of anything like drugs with her – she was always so anti them.
"She was always so upbeat I wouldn't have thought she needed them, it's a different world."
Mrs Buchanan's father James added: "We had no suspicion of any drug taking."
Recording a conclusion of death by misadventure assistant coroner Andrew Bridge said: "Analysis of the bag showed that its contents were cocaine.
"It appears that the cocaine that was in the bag which was left after recreational use with Mark earlier that week, on that basis the cause of death is brain damage caused by cardiac arrest which was caused by cocaine intoxication.
"The only known source of that cocaine was from that contents within the bag swallowed by Victoria with the intention of taking the remaining cocaine back to Dubai.
"Why she took such a risk will never be known but I'm satisfied it was done of her own volition and there was no coercion or threat, there was no criminal activity and no charges have been brought.
"I have no understanding of why Victoria would wish to have smuggled cocaine or why she would take the risks of doing so my conclusion of how she came by her death is one of misadventure.
"I give you my sympathies for the sad loss of your wife and your daughter – my question is what on earth was she thinking?"
Not guil... oh, I guess that doesn’t matter.
School’s out?
She couldn’t just shove it up her ass like everyone else??
That’s terrible! LMAO Funny...but terrible.
That’s how I want to go.
Death by misadventure.
“He, [or she] that being often reproved hardeneth his neck, shall suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy” (Proverbs 29:1).
Hope it was worth it
Even more of a moot point here than most times.
What’s the punishment for getting caught with narcotics in an Arab state, even a modern one like the UAE? Either way I’m thinking she was doomed.
[She couldn’t just shove it up her ass like everyone else??]
This is not the immediate thought process one considers associated with a do gooder school teacher
What part of what part did they have in what kind of conspiritorial activity doesn't make sense here ?
We learned about Struck and Paige by accident ...
Just sayin'
How could anyone that stupid be a ‘teacher’?
She does look like a person who is fond of cocaine. Very sad for her family.
She died for £60 worth of cocaine
“(She) could have quit anytime”
By no means am I Mensa material - but wouldn’t it stand to reason that her stomach acid would dissolve the bag holding the cocaine and release it into her system?
I probably would have gone into a bathroom, taken a few toots and flushed the rest.
I’m just saying, that’s all...
More air for me to breathe.
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