Family devastated as teacher, 42, dies after swallowing bag of cocaine at airport after vacation
A teacher and mother of three died after she swallowed a bag of cocaine while at the Manchester Airport rather than throwing it away in the trash before flying home after taking a vacation in the UK.
As reported by the Manchester Evening News, 42-year-old Victoria Buchanan suffered from a seizure in March when a bag of cocaine exploded in her stomach when she was waiting to board a Dubai-bound flight. She was sipping some champagne in the lounge room when she remembered that she had the bag of drugs worth $60 in her possession.
Instead of throwing the bag away, she decided to swallow the bag before she collapsed and went into cardiac arrest. "Onlookers thought she was intoxicated but then she started having a fit and [an] 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," the report shared.
The witnesses initially thought that she was in anaphylactic shock and had administered an EpiPen that she had in her bag for a palm oil allergy but she later died in the Wythenshawe Hospital.
The bag of cocaine was only discovered post-mortem and her elderly parents had no clue about her drug taking.
Her mother Irene Dignon 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," she said to which Buchanan's father James added, "We had no suspicion of any drug taking."
Her husband Mark shared, "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. If somebody had asked her to smuggle the cocaine she would have refused. She wasn't in a position to be blackmailed, I can say that 100 percent. I definitely didn't ask her to bring it back."
"I spoke to the police and we agreed it was the same bag, it originally cost about £200 and there was maybe £50 or £60 worth left in it," he continued.
Dr. Jon Hopper from the Wythenshawe Hospital released a statement saying, "Miss Buchanan was brought by the ambulance at 2.34pm following a cardiac arrest at Manchester Airport."
"She had been seen taking an EpiPen and it was confirmed by the ambulance and response team that basic life support had commenced on the scene. The cardiac arrest lasted for one hour. She remained unconscious at the hospital with no response to stimulus. She had a recorded allergy to palm oil but she previously required an admission. She reached a critical condition and her family was informed that this was a tragic and irretrievable situation," he shared.
"She was a 42-year-old woman who lived with her husband and children in Dubai and had recently been at home to visit the UK. She was at Manchester Airport in the Aspire hospitality lounge. She had been seen sitting in a chair drinking champagne when she collapsed. 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," he continued.
Buchanan's husband Mark said, "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."