I told my 18-year-old girl ‘I love you, be good' as I waved her off to a festival… then got the call every parent dreads
Janine Milburn is warning others about the dangers of the festival circuit
FESTIVAL FEARS I told my 18-year-old girl 'I love you, be good' as I waved her off to a festival… then got the call every parent dreads
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TUCKED away in Janine Milburn's car is a pair of trainers belonging to her beloved daughter Georgia Jones.
On her bed is a cushion, made from one of Georgia's favourite jumpers.
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Janine Milburn lost her daughter Georgia Jones in 2018
Credit: Olivia West
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Georgia died after taking high dose MDMA at Mutiny festival
Credit: PA:Press Association
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Janine says she still struggles to believe she will never see her little girl again, seen here together at Gerogia's christening
Credit: Olivia West
But Georgia isn't away at university, or travelling the world, tragically Janine will never see her beloved daughter again.
It has now been almost seven years since Georgia, 18, died from an MDMA overdose at Mutiny festival in Cosham near their home in Havant.
For Janine, 48, the loss of her daughter in May 2018 remains unbearable but, as festival season begins, she's determined to spare another mother the same agony.
Janine, who lives with Georgia's stepdad, health and safety investigator Daniel Milburn, 48, now campaigns for drug awareness going into schools to talk about the issues.
She says she never could have imagined that her daughter would have fallen victim to the peer pressures of casual drug use.
Worryingly you can buy two pills of ecstasy for a fiver from a ruthless dealer who just wants to offload his stock and you don't have a clue what's really in it.
Janine Milburn
The support worker says, 'Georgia was meeting her friends at the festival and as I waved her off, my last words were, 'I love you, be good, be careful, I'll see you when you get home'.
'Instead at 4.30pm I got the call every parent dreads.'
Georgia's older sister, Danielle, now 28, who was at the festival with her old friends told Janine that Georgia was with the paramedics.
'Two friends of theirs had found Georgia on her own, stumbling, gurning and barely coherent,' Janine says.
'Then she started fitting, which lasted for 50 minutes. I got to the festival just in time to see her being loaded into the ambulance.
I watched in horror as my son, 16, was killed by super-strength ecstasy – my warning to parents ahead of Glastonbury
'At that time I didn't think it was that serious – I even told Daniella to stay and enjoy herself, thinking there was no reason to ruin her day.'
Tragically Janine was wrong.
Georgia had taken the class A drug ecstasy (MDMA) at the festival.
The drug raises the body temperature and Georgia's was off the scale and her body went into shut down mode - her heart stopped twice in the ambulance.
When they arrived at the hospital Janine waited in the family room while medics fought to save Georgia's life.
Just 40 minutes after they arrived her heart had stopped again and the consultant advised Janine to call in family members to say their goodbyes.
'It felt unreal,' remembers Janine.
'I couldn't believe it was happening.
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Georgia was just 18 years old when she died, it had been her first time taking the drug
Credit: Solent
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The drug had caused her temperature to spike and her body to shut down. Pictured: Tributes left for Georgia at the festival
Credit: Paul Jacobs/pictureexclusive.com
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Tommy Cowan also lost his life after taking 'Silver Audi' tablets that day
Credit: PA:Press Association
'Strangely I felt cross with her, it was such a waste of such a beautiful girl.
'Doctors came in and told us that her heart had stopped again, her lungs were filling with blood and stomach acid and vomit and there was nothing more she could do.'
Georgia was pronounced dead at 8.20pm, just six hours after taking the drug.
'Nothing prepares you for losing a child,' Janine says.
'All I could think was why, why did she take those pills?
'We stayed with her in the room, saying our goodbyes until 11.30 that night. I was numb with grief – it was horrendous.'
The family held her funeral at the local crematorium, on 22 June 2018.
'We had a horse drawn carriage and a beautiful white hearse,' Janine says.
'Hundreds of people came, everyone wore something yellow as it was her favourite colour and we played Rise Up by Andra Day.
'Afterwards we went to her favourite pub – it was her last party and she'd have loved it.'
Despite her crushing grief Janine was determined from the start to try to warn others about how fatal ecstasy could be – posting on Facebook about her beloved daughter's death in the hope that it would stop people from taking the drug.
Janine says, 'There was a stigma from the start about her death – as if she hadn't been brought up properly if she ended up taking drugs.
'But Georgia wasn't into drugs.
'Like many teenagers she'd dabbled with weed and tried cocaine, but she hadn't touched drugs for months and was working in a care home for people with learning difficulties which she loved.
The only good thing that can possibly come from this is raising awareness that might save other people
Janine Milburn
'She was friendly and outgoing but not a party animal. She loved going to the cinema or just curling up at home on the sofa with her border collie dog Maysie, and she adored horses.
'She was just an ordinary teenage girl.
'That's why I campaign and go into schools to talk about drugs.
'We mustn't shut down the conversation but keep talking about it, to raise awareness that Georgia could be any one's daughter.'
At Georgia's inquest in November it was confirmed she'd taken two double strength MDMA pills which caused her organs to fail.
Tragically Georgia wasn't the only young person to die at the festival, Tommy Cowan, 20, also died after taking two of the high dose 'Silver Audi' pills.
At his inquest the coroner, David Horsley said there was a 'drugs culture' surrounding festivals, one he felt that more and more young people were falling victim to.
Janine agrees and as well as talking to pupils at school about the dangers, she campaigns to make festivals safer for young people by having facilities to test drugs on sites.
She says, 'The only good thing that can possibly come from this is raising awareness that might save other people.
'We need to talk about the realities of drugs, teenagers need to be educated about them.
SIGNS YOUR TEEN IS BUYING DRUGS...
A TEEN's changing behaviour could indicate any manner of mental health problems, says Gillian Collier, regional child criminal exploitation lead for drug and alcohol charity We Are With You.
But these actions could signal your child is buying drugs online…
THEY LEAVE THE ROOM EVERY TIME THEIR PHONE PINGS
IF your teen starts using the phone less in your presence, it could be a sign they are hiding something from you.
Watch out for them leaving the room as soon as they get a notification.
Or they might just turn it onto silent constantly.
THEY BECOME VERBALLY ABUSIVE
TEENS can go into fight or flight mode when faced with being caught out.
They might start shouting, crying or having a tantrum if they feel they're in danger of being discovered with drugs.
THEY HAVE A NEW GROUP OF FRIENDS
ONE of the main indicators of substance abuse is a new friendship group.
Bluebirds fly with bluebirds – those using substances usually hang around with each other.
They might also leave people they have been pals with for years.
THEY'VE STARTED TO DRESS DIFFERENTLY
YOU may see your teen trying to fit in, especially if they've started hanging out with new people who use drugs.
One minute they're in Levis with long hair, and the next they're in tracksuit bottoms with cropped hair – as that's what their new group wears.
THEY'RE DISAPPEARING MORE AND MORE
THEY could be leaving the house and not coming home for a few hours.
They might want to stay out longer to wait for the effect of the drugs to wear off.
Do they smell different? Have their eyes changed? Look at behaviour when they return.
THERE'S A CHANGE IN THEIR APPETITE
THERE are many reasons why young people might experience a change in appetite, including mental health issues.
And different substances can have different effects.
For instance, cannabis users might get hungrier, while cocaine and amphetamines can make you lose your appetite.
'Georgia took those pills blindly, she didn't have a clue what she was doing or about safety.
'Worryingly you can buy two pills of ecstasy for a fiver from a ruthless dealer who just wants to offload his stock and you don't have a clue what's really in it.
'Being at a festival is a perfect storm, you feel like you're almost in a different world, there are distractions, other people on drugs, you let your defences down.'
With festival season once more approaching Janine is worried about other people falling victim to drugs.
She says: 'I get so frustrated, there are so many things that could be put in place, bag searches need to be far more rigorous, there should be drug testing so young people at least know what they're getting, there should be more security and less people allowed in – many are getting bigger every year.
I will never be the same person, and above all I have such a fierce longing to see her again
Janine Milburn
'And this year I'm sure there will be more deaths, more parents joining the club that no one wants to be in – I always reach out to them when it inevitably happens.'
Janine says that, while her family has celebrated happy occasions since Georgia's death, moving on has been near impossible.
She explains: 'Georgia's death was devastating, I still grieve for her every day, Danielle has two sons now – they both have George for their middle name – it's agonising that they'll never know their aunt.
'And even such happy occasions as having a grandchild are tinged with grief, because I so want Georgia to be there and part of them.
'The dress she was supposed to wear for the next day of the festival still hangs in her wardrobe.
'I still wear her outdoor coat and I wear the Pandora bracelet I gave her for her 18th, it was supposed to be filled with charms, one for every birthday instead it's just got the first one we bought – an amethyst.
'I will never be the same person, and above all I have such a fierce longing to see her again.
'That's why I have to talk about her, even if I just stop one other person from taking drugs and save one other mother from feeling this pain, then it's worth it.'
You can find out more about Janine's work at Georgia Jones Don't Go with the Flo.
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