Stefan Woodward’s mother Julie Davis speaks of her pain at losing son at Stereosonic
JUST before he left for Stereosonic, Stefan Woodward’s mum reminded him of the woman who died of a drug overdose at the same festival in Sydney, warning him not to take pills. He didn’t listen.
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BEFORE Stefan Woodward went to Stereosonic, his mother spoke to him about the death of a woman from a drug overdose at the same music festival in Sydney only seven days earlier.
She urged him not to make the same mistake and he told her he would not take drugs.
Tragically after consuming drugs the much-loved 19-year-old lost his life and left his family with a lifetime of heartache.
He died before the sun set over the Stereosonic stage.
“He’s been to a few music festivals, I’m not sure of all their names but he’s been to a few,” his mother Julie Davis told The Advertiser.
“At one, he got really sunburnt and I remember putting aloe vera all over him afterwards.
“So this time, after that girl died in Sydney, I warned him, ‘please be careful — don’t have anything, I don’t care what friends give you, just don’t have it’.
‘Please be careful — don’t have anything, I don’t care what friends give you, just don’t have it.’
“I said to Stefan, ‘this poor girl, her mother is burying her now. I can’t afford to bury you’.”
She was referring to Sylvia Choi, 25, who died after consuming an illicit drug, believed to be ecstasy, at Stereosonic in Sydney on November 28.
Ms Davis said Stefan reassured her he would not take any pills and would just drink alcohol during the event at Bonython Park on December 5.
“At 11am, I went out to hang up the washing and it was so hot, my feet were burning, I thought, ‘I need to inbox Stefan to make sure he’s all right’,” she said.
Ms Davis sent him a Facebook message, saying: ‘Be careful today my middle bubba and have fun. Do sunscreen, drink WATER and stay safe. Love you’.
Stefan responded: ‘Yeh I will. Love you’.
“That was our last message to each other,” she said.
Stefan will be remembered by family and friends at a private funeral service on Wednesday.
He is survived by his mother, 39, stepfather Johnathan and brothers Scott, 23, and 19-month-old Jayven.
Ms Davis said she regrets not giving Stefan a kiss and hug before he left for Stereosonic.
“Before he left, he came to get some Coke from the fridge and I was cutting up food for Jayven in the kitchen, he said, ‘mum, I’m going now’ and I said, ‘OK just be careful, it’s going to be bloody hot’.
“I didn’t hug him or kiss him.
“He went to Jayven and gave him a hug and swung him around. Jayven chased him out the door going, ‘bye, bye’.
“But I just kept cooking — I didn’t think this was going to happen.”
Ms Davis said on the day of the festival she went to the shops and left her phone on the charger at home.
When she got back at 4pm, she had three missed calls from one of her son’s friends.
She was then told Stefan had been rushed to the Royal Adelaide Hospital in an ambulance after he “had something”.
The worried mother was advised to call police, who had her son’s phone.
“Police said he had a bad reaction and I needed to get to the RAH as soon as possible,” she said.
“A CIB (Crime Investigation Branch) lady rang me when I was passing Adelaide Gaol and said, ‘are you nearly here?’ and I said, ‘yeh, just trying to get past Stereosonic’.
“She goes, ‘OK, I’ll meet you out the front,’ and I said, ‘where do I park?’
“She told me she had moved one of the police cars out the front so I could have that spot.
“When I hung up, I knew.
“A cop wouldn’t do that — why is she waiting for me out the front? I didn’t know he was dead, but I thought he was really, really bad.”
Ms Davis arrived at the hospital, put Jayven in his stroller and followed the policewoman inside.
“She took me to this little lounge room and I kept saying, ‘where’s Stefan?’ and she asked me to sit down and I said, ‘where’s Stefan?’.
“Then a policeman stood at the door and I started crying.
“She said, ‘there’s no easy way to tell you this but Stefan passed away about seven minutes ago’ — I had missed him.
“I just didn’t want to believe it, I said, ‘no, no, no, it’s not Stefan. I need to see him. You must have the wrong person’.”
“I just didn’t want to believe it, I said, ‘no, no, no, it’s not Stefan. I need to see him. You must have the wrong person’.”
The devastated mother spoke to Stefan’s doctor, who told her his temperature was extremely high when his heart stopped.
After a while, Ms Davis was allowed to see her son. It would be the last time.
“I just shook him and tried to wake him up because he didn’t look dead, he was still warm,” she said.
“I just held his hand and said, ‘please wake up Stefan’.
“He felt so warm like he was still alive so I keep shaking him trying to wake him up.
“I put my head on his chest trying to hear his heartbeat and saying, ‘you can’t do this to me’. “Ever since then, I haven’t stopped crying.”
Ms Davis has carried one of Stefan’s shirts with her ever since he died. It reminds her of the loving, generous and funny boy she raised and loved so dearly.
The family wish to thank everyone who have supported them since the tragic loss of Stefan, including Simplicity Funerals, who have arranged his service.
DRUGS AND STEREOSONIC, 2015
SYDNEY: Saturday, November 28. Pharmacist Sylvia Choi, 25, below, dies of a drug overdose after attending Sydney Stereosonic. Ten other people are hospitalised, including one suffering from a serious drug overdose. Police make 69 drug-related arrests.
ADELAIDE: Saturday, December 5
Stefan Woodward, 19, dies of a suspected drug overdose; 25 other people are hospitalised, including two who suffered serious drug overdoses. Police hand out 23 drug diversions to Sterosonic revellers.
MELBOURNE: Saturday, December 5
One person suffers a serious overdose and another five are hospitalised. Police make 66 arrests.
BRISBANE: Sunday, December 6. Fourteen people are hospitalised, including nine suffering serious overdoses. Police make 139 arrests.