Overview

• Beth Ashton, 25, a pharmacy worker from Skelmersdale, was found dead at home on November 9, 2024, with her mother saying her body "just gave out."
• She developed a hidden dependence after a traumatic stillbirth linked to preeclampsia in 2019, later suffering excruciating urinary pain consistent with ketamine bladder syndrome.
• Family accounts say her bladder capacity shrank to about 30ml and she passed bladder lining in her urine, with severe pain unrelieved by prescribed morphine.
• She was hospitalised in late summer 2024 at Southport Hospital, discharged after three days, referred to the Inspire Drug and Alcohol Service, and her mother says effective help did not arrive before she died.
• Her mother reports Beth was spending about £60 a day on ketamine and has created the West Lancs Ketamine Awareness & Support Facebook page while urging faster access to treatment.