COVID nurse fears drink spiked in Fremantle

EXCLUSIVE: A COVID-19 nurse says her drink was spiked at one of two venues in Fremantle before she was found passed out semi naked on the road opposite Esplanade Park on Saturday.
Local musician Lee Sappho (pictured here) who found the Thornlie nurse curled up in a ball on the corner of Marine Terrace and Collie Street said she was lucky to be alive and had to stop traffic to help her off the road about 5am.
“I freaked out. I slowed down and saw what looked like a bag had been thrown on the ground. She was curled up in a ball. It was dreadful, it was raining. I assumed she was drunk,” she told StreetWise today.
StreetWise spoke to the young woman who asked not be identified: “Everything was normal. I was drinking but I was keeping track. My boyfriend and I were meeting friends so I didn’t want to get too intoxicated. We were also sharing each other’s drinks.
“Later I found out he experienced the same thing, which makes me believe my drink was spiked.”
She said one of her friends mentioned her behaviour seemed odd as they walked from the first to the second venue in the CBD about 11pm where they ordered their first round of drinks. She recalls dancing and hugging her friends then … she went cold, literally.
“I was the coldest I have even been,” she said, having been found on the verge, her clothes and bag strewn across the retaining walls at the Esplanade Park end of Collie Street. “I have never blacked out even when I have had too much to drink.”
Luckily, Lee found and clothed her and took her for a coffee to get her out of the rain: “She started making sense. She wasn’t staggering around or incoherent. She just was confused, that’s all I could see from her. She said, ‘I’m a nurse. I’m responsible. I’m running COVID clinics at the moment. This isn’t me’.”
Within half an hour, Lee managed to contact the woman’s boyfriend who they found outside Timezone, just as confused: “Apparently he lost six hours as well.”
“My boyfriend woke up before me,” the woman said. “He was disorientated and had absolutely no memory of what happened.”
The woman said she attended the Sexual Assault Resource Centre with bruises to her arms and legs and was taking medication to relieve the pain: “I know I would never have removed my shirt and bra in that way in the cold.” She said she was waiting for test results before she decided to report the incident to police.
A WA Police spokesman said drink spiking offences can be difficult to substantiate, “however police take these allegations seriously and will investigate any reported matters thoroughly”.
The spokesman said if you suspect your drink has been spiked, stay with someone trusted and seek medical attention and police assistance as soon as possible. Safety tips at www.police.wa.gov.au/Your-Safety/Alcohol-and-drugs/Drink-spiking.
Lee’s Facebook has attracted nearly 1000 views and 295 comments from people recounting similar stories, including one from Acting Mayor Andrew Sullivan who said: “Happened to me a few months back. Remember one song of the band and woke up in the park hours later unable to get up. It’s really scary to have no memory or understanding of what happened.”
It appears the post was deleted by Cr Sullivan after StreetWise sent him questions, including whether he reported the incident to police. He said he would make no further comment.
The December 2019 issue of Freo StreetWise at https://bit.ly/3rjjnWZ addressed concerns over the increasing number of liquor venues popping up across the port city.
StreetWise commends the quick actions of Lee who said she had heard of another drink spiking incident a week earlier at one of the two venues the nurse visited on Friday night.
“There is CCTV everywhere,” she said. “There is no excuse why we are not looking for these people. This is an opportunity to find out who is doing this.”
Lee’s call was shared online:
Sarah Brown: “My 20yo daughter had her drink spiked … a month ago. Fortunately a friend brought her home. She was in such a psychotic state I had to call 000.”
Riyaana Harman: “I have daughters and to read this post, let alone find out this happening is terrifying.”
Joanne Fahy: “I’m so sorry and sad that this young lady and her friend were subjected to such horrendous opportunistic behaviour.”
Katy Ellison: “Sounds like GBH. A drug only needing one drop to erase all memories and hours – happened to me. Be careful. Buy your own drinks.”
Diane Martino: “Copied and pasted to my page. I have nieces and nephews who need to see this.”