A young Letterkenny man has died after taking legal highs.
Tragic Jimmy Guichard
Former St Eunans player Jimmy Guichard, 20, suffered a heart attack and severe brain damage within hours of taking one of the herbal substances.
His mother Karen Audino said he was found unconscious next to an empty plastic bag from controversial legal high shop UK Skunkworks.
Jimmy moved to England just a few weeks ago to look after his dad who is suffering from cancer.
Just 24 hours after taking the substance Karen held her ‘fit and healthy’ son in her arms after the heartbreaking decision to turn off his life-support machine.
Jimmy was a member of the St Eunan’s team which won the minor hurling championship in 2011.
The club this week passed on their sympathies to Jimmy’s family.
Tragic Jimmy’s mother Karen is now demanding a change in the law on shops like UK Skunkworks – a campaign backed by two Tory MPs.
Karen, 42, who has launched a Facebook campaign, said: ‘Jimmy was fit and healthy, even the doctors said his organs were perfect.
‘I believe what he smoked caused this and I want those shops banned, so nobody else has to go through this pain.
‘The first place he laid was in my arms, and it was the last place he was going to be.’
She added: ‘I understand people are often quick to point blame and I’m not saying my son’s death is wholly the shop’s fault.
‘Jimmy bought the drug and would have known the risks – a young boy in our town died when his heart exploded in his chest after taking a legal high.
‘But these are dangerous substances and selling them on the high street encourages people to try them.
‘I know you can get it online but people, like Jimmy, are just after a quick fix.
‘There’s no way he would have bothered to search online and pay for it and then wait for it to be delivered. It just wouldn’t have happened.
‘I just don’t want his death to be a waste, I hope it will help in proving what these legal highs can do and get the laws changed on selling them.’
Jimmy, who had applied to join the Army, had recently moved from Donegal to Gravesend, Kent, to care for his cancer-stricken father Martin.
He bought the legal high from UK Skunkworks shop in Chatham, Kent, on October 2 and was found collapsed on his bed just hours later.
He regained consciousness after a heart attack but his brain swelled causing bleeding and severe brain damage.
His mother, a fast food restaurant manager, dashed from Donegal to his bedside at Darent Valley Hospital, Dartford, Kent.
Jimmy passed away just before midnight on October 3.
A post-mortem has been carried and his family are waiting for the results of the toxicology report.
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