When I was researching chemsex and how it affects lives - I found one particular story that really touched me. Paddy Bloor was a gay man who died at the age of 21 from a GHB overdose after taking part in a chemsex party in March 2018.
Paddy had gone out for the night with a friend, and decided to continue partying back with a man from Grindr - his friend went home. By 5:15am, Paddy suffered a cardiac arrest and died.
I spoke to Dr. Graham Bloor, Paddy’s father, who told me what Paddy was like: “Paddy was a wonderful child - very happy, funny and highly intelligent.”
View our picture gallery of photos of Paddy below:
When Paddy died, and still at the time of writing this, GHB is a Class C drug. This means the penalties for both buying and supplying are relatively low, compared to drugs such as cannabis which are Class B.
“GHB is incredibly dangerous. You can go from zero to dead simply by getting the dose wrong by a tiny amount - and that is what happened to Paddy.”
After Paddy’s death, Graham decided to make a stand and attempt to change GHB’s classification. He wrote letters to government in an attempt to change policy along with a media campaign in the press - hopefully saving future lives in the process by raising awareness.
“I would say to people, whatever you do, don’t take this drug. It is lethal.”
All photos in this article are from Dr. Graham Bloor.