The heartbreaking last words of a meth addict have been revealed in a Coroner’s inquest, spoken just hours before his addiction claimed the young man’s life.
The Coroners Court of NSW released findings from the inquest into the tragic death of Dane Oliver Lockwood, who died in a Sydney hospital in 2019.
Mr Lockwood, 33, had been battling his addiction for years but had desperately wanted to turn his life around, telling a friend on the day before he died “All I want is to live; I just want a normal life”.
He had attended the Prince of Wales Hospital on August 19, 2019 after consuming crystal meth and not sleeping “for days”.
Upon arrival at the hospital, Mr Lockwood believed the television was speaking to him, and refused medication from staff, claiming “I am God”.
“He walked into the waiting room, was seen to walk around and then leave,” Court documents read.
“He then re-entered the area and knocked on the door to a triage room, and told (a nurse) that he was psychotic and needed help.
“It is a terrible scene, where some part of Dane knew that he needed help. The other part, the drug affected part, was not helping him.”
As Mr Lockwood began to appear threatening, security was required to restrain him, and he was given sedatives.
But about 20 minutes into the ordeal, Mr Lockwood appeared cyanotic and had no pulse.
CPR was administered, but he was later pronounced dead.
Mr Lockwood had been battling an addiction to methamphetamine for years, and had attempted to get clean many times between 2007 and 2019.
In 2018, Mr Lockwood had reconnected with an old childhood friend, who helped him gain employment as a pool technician.
He started going to the gym, and was extremely health conscious, as his new job required him to lift heavy weight, including bags of salt and chlorine drums.
But between mid 2018 and the start of 2019, Mr Lockwood‘s personal life deteriorated – he separated from his partner, lost his job with his friend and started drinking again.
About two weeks before his death, Mr Lockwood’s Narcotics Anonymous sponsor said Mr Lockwood had been using meth every day.
“This was the heaviest period that I have seen him using in the way he was,” he told the Coroners Court.
Despite Mr Lockwood’s struggle with his addiction, he had tried to overcome it many times, relying on support from family and friends.
On August 19, 2019, Mr Lockwood had taken more meth, and had started acting erratically.
A close friend saw Mr Lockwood had posted some concerning videos on his Instagram page, and contacted him to see if he was okay.
Mr Lockwood had really wanted to stay clean, and even told his friend he wanted a “normal life” before he died.
“All I want is to live; I just want a normal life and a job and a family,” Mr Lockwood had said.
An autopsy performed by Dr Melissa Thompson revealed his cause of death was methylamphetamine toxicity.
“It was reasonable to conclude that the struggle for over 20 minutes in a physical manner put further pressure on his already drug affected body and would have contributed to his death in this case,” Dr Thompson said.
Deputy State Coroner Erin Kennedy agreed the cause of death was meth toxicity, with antecedent causes relating to his resistance to restraint.
“Dane’s death highlights that significant changes are required for those who are brave enough and invested enough to seek help for serious drug addiction.”
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