The teen, who lived in Echuca with his parents, had been permitted to drink sips of alcohol from the age of 15, the Victorian Coroners Court was told.
On December 25, 2022, the boy — who cannot be named for legal reasons — took 10 Vodka Cruisers and a handful of UDL cans to lunch at his aunty’s home after they were given to him to consume over the summer holidays.
The teen’s mother told him not to take so many drinks, but he insisted and she did not want to cause a fuss or argument on Christmas morning.
The boy’s sister noticed he was “a bit dazed and maybe already had a vomit” within an hour of arriving, she told a coroner.
His cousin saw the teen “skull a few cruisers” and believed he consumed about seven of the pre-mixed beverages before lunch.
After lunch, the 16-year-old vomited near the backyard chicken coop and said it was a “tactical vomit” to set himself up for more drinking later.
He continued drinking into the evening, with relatives seeing him “shotgunning” alcohol and sneaking drinks from other eskies.
Adults at the party were also intoxicated, including his mother and father, who were driven home about 11pm.
The teen and other young family members “started going for it”, and the boy was seen drunk and staggering before dropping to the grass in the backyard between midnight and 1am, where he vomited again.
He refused to drink water as was moved to an outdoor couch. There he was rolled onto his side in case he vomited and fell asleep.
About 6.30am on Boxing Day, two relatives who were leaving found the boy sleeping on his side and snoring.
But two hours later his uncle found him looking grey, with foam and vomit coming from his mouth, as he asked his wife to call an ambulance.
The teen’s uncle performed CPR until paramedics arrived and took him to hospital; however, on December 28 a CT scan showed the boy’s brain death.
Coroner Catherine Fitzgerald last week said the 16-year-old’s death from acute alcohol intoxication served as a tragic reminder about the dangers of alcohol consumption for minors.
She said it could have been prevented if an ambulance was called when he became unconscious.
“He would have received medical intervention in the form of airway and oxygen support, which would have prevented his deterioration and subsequent death,” she said in her findings.
Ms Fitzgerald noted the amount of alcohol consumed was “a significant amount for an adult let alone a minor” and was critical of the adults’ permissive attitude, as none had intervened.
“The assessment made by adults present was that he would be fine when left drunk and unsupervised on a couch to ‘sleep it off’, and the assessment made the next morning was that he was simply ‘hungover’,” she said.
Victorian Alcohol and Drug Association chief executive Chris Christoforou said the harms associated with alcohol were often forgotten or downplayed, particularly over periods such as Christmas.
“This coroner’s findings offer a stark reminder that regulating alcohol in the home, observing the legal drinking age and practising responsible alcohol consumption is very important,” he said.
He said alcohol-related fatalities were rare in people aged under 18, but there had been a 60 per cent rise in fatal alcohol overdoses in the past decade.
Mr Christoforou said adult supervision was essential, with plans in place for a designated responsible adult if other adults were drinking, and encouraged parents to speak openly to their children about the harms of alcohol use.
— AAP
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