The devastated parents of a young Queensland man who died of an overdose at a NSW music festival have issued a grim warning, saying a similar tragedy could strike any family in Australia.
An inquest in Sydney’s west today heard how Brisbane rugby fanatic and budding businessman Joshua Tam, 22, died in hospital on December 29, 2018 after attending the Lost Paradise music festival on the NSW Central Coast.
Outside court this afternoon, his parents Julia and John Tam said Australia is “missing something” in its battle to stop young people taking illicit drugs — and warned that it will only worsen unless we buck our ideas up.
“We must find a better way forward,” Ms Tam told reporters. “What took place (the deaths of six young people over two festival seasons) is a loud call to action.
“So called recreational drug use will not magically disappear. In fact, in all likelihood, it will get a whole lot worse.
“Just saying don’t do it, we must all now agree, isn’t working. This is a health management issue. People are dying.
“I’m 100 per cent certain that if our son knew the risks, he wouldn’t have taken the steps he did that day we wouldn’t be grieving his loss.”
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