The father of beautician Chloe Ferris who died in a nightclub in Belfast last weekend has revealed drugs were to blame for her death.
Declan Ferris said his daughter, who had been out celebrating her 25th birthday, died after taking drugs for the first time.
There are now fears that a batch of drugs containing deadly fentanyl may have been responsible for the young woman’s death.
Mr Ferris has pleaded with young people to not take drugs: “Anyone thinking of taking drugs, stop.
“Kids are playing Russian roulette with their lives.
“My Chloe, our Chloe, played that game and lost.”
Chloe (24) had been attending Lux nightclub in Belfast city centre with friends to celebrate her upcoming birthday when she and a friend fell unconscious.
The young woman, who was originally from west Belfast but living and working in Newtownabbey, was pronounced dead at the scene after emergency services were called to the nightclub in the Dunbar Street area in the early hours of December 1.
A week on from her death, her father says “she died because of drugs, her first time. Her last time”.
“The Christmas tree is here because she put it up, she loved Christmas, how will we do it without her is unimaginable,” he told the Sunday Life.
“To be honest her death has destroyed us.
“It’s not just us, but the wider family and her friends have been destroyed.
“One moment of madness, totally out of character, and she is gone, our hearts are broken.
“There was no-one like our Chloe.”
Mr Ferris said he believes the drugs his daughter took were laced with fentanyl or MDMA.
“What she took was obviously deadly,” he said.
“She hadn’t taken drugs before, but the fact it killed her says enough.
“There are all sorts of s*** on the streets, kids don’t know what they are taking.”
He added: “And where are we now?
“I know where she is, she is in Milltown Cemetery, I’m going there now because of the weather and all her wreaths will be blown away.
“But I am going to be beside Chloe, she is just as part of me as she was last week.
“And as I said, I and all of us are totally heartbroken, devastated and confused, we can’t believe this has happened to our Chloe.
“Anyone thinking of taking drugs, stop, our family has been devastated and we will never be the same.”
In an earlier interview with The Irish News, Mr Ferris said his daughter had “lived life to the full”.
“Chloe was an incredibly hard-working girl, she worked nine to nine every day and Saturday was the only time she would have been able to get a day off in the lead up to Christmas,” he said.
“Chloe built a successful business and had a great group of friends who were extremely close.
“She had travelled the world and really lived life to the full.
“We had actually been saying to her that she needed to relax a bit, she was in America and Australia last year, that’s just what she loved doing.”
He added: “I think to myself was there something in the back of her head that knew something was coming, and that’s why she packed so much into her short life”.
Two men in their 20s were arrested by police investigating the sudden death of the beautician.
Detectives detained the pair on suspicion of drug-related offences. They were later released on bail to allow for further enquiries.
