Brisbane rugby player mourned after music festival death
A QUT student and GPS Ashgrove rugby player is being mourned after his death from an apparent drug cocktail at a NSW music festival.
QLD News
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A MUSIC festival trip with friends has turned deadly for young Brisbane footballer Joshua Tam, with two of his mates in hospital.
Police believe Mr Tam, 22, mixed ecstasy tablets and a large amount of alcohol before he and two friends fell ill about 6pm on Saturday at the Lost Paradise festival north of Sydney.
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The death has rocked his large group of friends, with the GPS Ashgrove rugby player remembered as an easygoing “top bloke” who played hard on the field.
The tragedy unfolded on Saturday night when Mr Tam and his friends went to a festival medical tent staffed by NSW Ambulance.
They were rushed to nearby Gosford Hospital but the QUT student was dead just two hours later.
Members of the group of 20 he had joined for the festival were yesterday left reeling at his death.
“One of his friends has the unfortunate experience of attending Gosford Hospital to identify his deceased friend,” District Commander Acting Superintendent Rod Peet said.
Hundreds of people have taken to Facebook to voice their heartache.
“Love ya my brother,” one man posted.
Mr Tam’s is the fourth death at a music festival in NSW since September and comes despite the state’s Premier Gladys Berejiklian introducing new laws after the first two fatalities.
However, police still found drugs on 25 per cent of the people searched on the first day of Lost Paradise, which is attended by 11,000 partygoers over three days.
Three people have already been charged with drug offences at the festival.
Despite Mr Tam’s death partygoers approached yesterday were still openly taking drugs.
“I’ve just dropped some caps,” one 20-year-old from Sydney’s north said.
Around him young people were sprawled over the grass, drinking or passed out near the thousands of tents which packed the event grounds.
The day before Lost Paradise began NSW government funded charity DanceWize warned festival goers of a “mystery substance” that has been “linked to the hospitalisation of users experiencing psychotic symptoms”.
Yesterday DanceWize boss Mary Herrod said people were “taking drugs everywhere” and she had teams roving around “catching people before they get really sick”.
Acting Supt Peet said festival goers had been caught sneaking drugs into the event in a range of items including a barbecue chicken.
Supt Peet said the Paradise Lost would not be closed down despite Mr Tam’s death.
“At this stage the event is continuing,” Supt Peet said.
“It’s running for the next two days and what happens next year will be subject to future discussion.”
He said policing at the event was “adequate” and did not need to be increased because of the fatality.
A spokeswoman for the Lost Paradise Music Festival said: “This is a very distressing incident and our sincerest thoughts and condolences are with the family and friends of the deceased.
“We work closely with local police to try to ensure festival-goers respect our drug-free policy and NSW ambulance to provide extensive medical support across the festival site.”
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