Gold Coast’s tragic history of mass drug overdoses in Surfers Paradise and Broadbeach

The Gold Coast has had a long and dark history of mass drug overdoses which have claimed the lives of everyone from corporate high-flyers to beloved country football players.

The Gold Coast has had a long and dark history of mass drug overdoses in recent decades.

The party precincts of Surfers Paradise and Broadbeach have been at the epicentre of the worst incidents which have shone a spotlight on the city’s drug culture.

The death of Danielle Whittaker on Good Friday in a mass overdose drama at a party in a Surfers Paradise high-rise has prompted a police probe into the cause, with GHB - aka fantasy - and ketamine being considered.

It came more than 27 years after the first mass overdose involving party drugs.

It was October 6, 1996 when 10 Gold Coast revellers collapsed outside Broadbeach nightclub B3, affected by a mystery substance.

Danielle Whittaker died following a suspected drug overdose on the Gold Coast on Friday. Picture: Facebook

The mass overdose left eight of the victims on life support in intensive care for several days and shocked the local community, coming just weeks before Schoolies.

Eight of the 10 victims, aged 17 to 30, stopped breathing outside the dance club in Albert Ave within an hour of taking the drug.

The “fantasy” drug was allegedly based on an ingredient imported from the US and reportedly in a 375ml bottle of soft drink or bottled water from which victims had swigged as it was passed around the dance club.

A woman being treated for a drug overdose in Broadbeach in 1996.

Emergency services were stretched as comatose victims were rushed by ambulance to the Gold Coast Hospital in Southport.

Four were later flown to the Royal Brisbane, Princess Alexandra and Mater hospitals and one was transported to the Logan Hospital.

The sheer size of the overdose put the national spotlight on the Gold Coast for all the wrong reasons as police issued a warning.

Witness Troy Winningham, a cleaning supervisor working in the same building as the dance club, said: “They all started dropping one by one – one guy was standing there and just dropped to the ground.

“It was really weird. Normally you might think they might wobble or whatever but they just went down – bang. I don’t know what they’d been taking but it wasn’t any good.’’

Heathcote senior player Riki Stephens

It was another 20 years before another incident eclipsed the 1996 overdose.

In October 2016, 16 people overdosed on a deadly cocktail of drugs known as an “N-bomb”.

The drugs, a combination of LSD and MDMA, shocked paramedics who said it was the worst overdose incident they had seen in decades.

Country Victorian footballer Riki Stephens died from an overdose at age 27 while partying with two of his friends in Surfers Paradise on an end-of-season trip.

Heathcote Saints Football Club president Andrew Conforti at the time said Mr Stephens was “a class bloke who made a mistake”.

“He fitted in beautifully, and they loved him from the start,” Mr Conforti said.

“He was just an amazing guy … and fantastic footy player. He was a good example for the others, he’d be there first for training, and he was a fine example for the younger guys, and unfortunately made a mistake.”