An 18-year-old man died suddenly a day after he took cocaine, an inquest heard. Morgan Olphert collapsed at his home in Heol Ty Gwyn, Maesteg, on June 12, 2022.
An inquest at Pontypridd Coroner's Court heard Mr Olphert's death was "largely unexplained". Coroner Patricia Morgan said Mr Olphert took a "small amount" of cocaine the night before his death, which may have caused his heart to stop beating. There is also a possibility that Mr Olphert had an underlying heart condition but post-mortem tests could not confirm this.
Ms Morgan wrote on the record of inquest: "Morgan Graham Olphert was aged 18 when he suddenly collapsed and died on June 12, 2022, at his home address [at] Heol Ty Gwyn, Maesteg. The night before his death [Mr Olphert] had sourced cocaine and willingly taken a small amount of it at a party. Post-mortem tests showed that the likelihood was that Morgan had suffered a sudden cardiac arrhythmia."
Ms Morgan concluded that cocaine possibly caused Mr Olphert's heart to stop beating but she could not say this for sure. She stated in her narrative conclusion: "There was a potential role for cocaine in the development of the sudden arrhythmia but it was also possible that there was an underlying cardiac condition which was not identified at post-mortem. This death remained largely unexplained despite thorough testing." She recorded Mr Olphert's medical cause of death as 1a. sudden arrhythmic death in the setting of cocaine use.
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