Tragic Jimmy Guichard just hours before he died.
A Donegal mum who lost her only son to so-called legal highs has demanded the British Government ban such substances immediately.
Jimmy Guichard was just 20 years old when he died after taking a legal high after moving temporarily to London to look after his ill father.
Before that, Jimmy was a healthy young man who was known as a talented hurler with St Eunan’s in Letterkenny.
But his tragic mum Karen was forced to take a horrific decision and turn off Jimmy’s life support machine.
Now since his death in October, 2013, Karen and her family have campaigned tirelessly to have such ‘legal high’ drugs banned in Britain.
However, the British Government have again stalled doing the issue after refusing to implement a complete ban on the drugs.
Karen said if the British Government followed the example of the Irish Government six years ago, then her son would still be alive today.
Now Karen has started an on line campaign and has vowed not to stop until Britain also bans the psycho-active substances.
She recalled the day she had to make the most difficult decision in her lifetime.
“On the 3rd of October 2013 I made a decision that no parent should have to make. I had to switch of the life support machine that was keeping my only son alive, Jimmy was 20 years old, he was fit and healthy, unfortunately he smoked a Psycho-active substance, a synthetic cannabis, as he was unaware of the dangers.
“This caused him to have a massive heart attack, he was revived and taken to hospital. It was then that his brain began to swell and bleed, the swelling crushed his brain stem leaving him brain dead on a machine. The first place Jimmy laid was in my arms and at 11.20 pm on the 3rd of October 2013 it was those same arms that he died in,” said Karen
But Karen and her family have spent the past two and half years trying to honour Jimmy’s memory.
And she said she is not going to stop until Britain and other countries ban such drugs.
“Myself and my daughters could have quite easily just fallen apart with grief but instead of that we fought. We fought in Jimmy’s name and Jimmy’s memory to get the same laws implemented over in the UK that we have had in Ireland since 2010.
“The end of our battle was in sight, (I call it a battle because we may be winning the battle on these products but we have a long way to go before the war is won) only to have this pulled away from us with an indefinite delay.
“I call for the British Government to act and implement this ban so that other parents do not feel the pain that I am living with, my sons death was a meaningless tragedy he became a statistic. My son was and is worth more that that, bring this ban in to honour his memory by saving others.”
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