Anna Wood
Anna Wood, a
Sydney,
Australia schoolgirl, died at the age of 15 on
October 24,
1995 after taking half of an
ecstasy tablet at a dance party the previous night. The direct cause of death was a
cerebral oedema, caused by
water intoxication and resultant
hyponatremia. Her death, widely reported in the
media, sparked off a
moral panic regarding drugs and their perceived role in
rave and dance party culture. The event had political implications on
drug policy, particularly in her home state of
New South Wales. Media coverage frequently played on her appearance as an average, middle-class, fresh-faced "good" girl to convey the message that similar tragedies could befall any youngster in Middle Australia. Her death is also notable in that it preceded by mere weeks that of the better-known British teenager
Leah Betts, the circumstances and resultant media coverage of which were eerily similar.
Wood's death was the subject of
Anna's Story, a drug education book published in
1996.
*
Rachel Whitear*
Leah Betts*
A coroner's report on Anna Wood's death* http://www.cia.com.au/peril/youth/homan1.pdf
*
Anna's Story, the book about the incident
