A 17 year old cadet died in the hospital in Southend, Essex, UK for allegedly taking a bodybuilding steroid from the black market. His desire to make it to the marines when he turns 18 a few more months caused his life to an end. The teenager, Matt Dear, who took £30 worth of pills from an underground source was hospitalized and died due to swelling of the brain.

His father told the major dailies in the UK that Matt was brought to the hospital two weeks ago because of food poisoning. He said that Matt’s condition was attributed to a barbeque he ate that time. “I put it down to food poisoning. Even though he felt ill, he still went to work,” he said. They did not suspect that he already took several doses of steroids. His son spent a lot of his time in the gym. Matt was also a health conscious guy and he didn’t smoke, seldom drinks and avoids painkillers and even chocolates.

The condition of Matt became worst when he complained that he has a problem with his eyes. “He said he didn’t know where he was. His pupils were the size of saucers and he seemed really ill.” “When paramedics arrived, Matt told them he’d taken steroids. This was the first we knew,” he added.

Although Matt was discharged the next day since he felt better, his dad was still angry at him for taking those steroids pills. In the evening, Matt told his brother that he can’t see so he was brought again to the hospital. The initial test did not show any major concern for the doctors. However the next day of his confinement, Matt felt that he was drunk and suffering from too much stomach pain. His father said that he was screaming out in pain. “He was in such agony. It was unbearable to see. They moved him to the critical unit. They had to sedate him and he started to have fits. They did another scan and told us his brain had swollen,” he said. According to the doctors Matt’s brain had died while his kidneys packed in.

There will be an investigation if the steroids were the only cause of Matt’s death. A post mortem examination will be made to determine the exact cause of death and to know what particular steroid he took. Jim Sandford who is in charge of the investigation told major news agencies that they are still waiting for the various tests results being carried out on the type of tablets that were taken by Matt.

The spokeswoman of the Essex Police warned youngsters to take extreme caution before taking any performance enhancing drugs especially if it is not prescribed by experts or doctors. Essex Police arrested 3 men on the suspicion of supplying a controlled substance but was later released on bail. They are expected to face the charges on June 23.

Matt is a part time postman in the army and a marine cadet since 12. His father said that Matt’s ultimate dream is to be part of the armed forces. The pressure caused him to take anabolic steroids. Matt’s case will again add up to the increasing number of teens involved in taking steroids in the UK which already alarmed some lawmakers.

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