Mother's tears after 13-year-old daughter found drunk in the street

Portadown Neighbourhood Policing Team took to social media with the story of the girl, told from both the child’s perspective and her mother’s.

The teenager said: “I met up with my friends to go into town. Just a few hours later Portadown Neighbourhood Officers found me lying on the street with a head injury, vomiting and unable to communicate for myself due to the amount of alcohol I had drunk.

“The officers took me straight to hospital where I was admitted for the night. Other officers from the Neighbourhood team had also gone to my mum’s house to collect her and bring her up to the hospital to see me... I got out the next day and still felt very unwell.

Her mother said: “I was at home on Saturday afternoon when I got a phone call from a police officer telling me that my daughter was being taken to hospital. When I arrived I saw her being taken into the Resuscitation Unit. She looked grey and was totally unresponsive so when I saw her I was extremely shocked and just burst into tears.

“I had to wait in the corridor until the doctors assessed her. She was kept in overnight, put onto a drip and was taken for a CT scan and X-rays which thankfully were all clear. This whole experience was terrifying and a week later I am still very shaken by it all. My daughter had gone out for a Saturday afternoon into town with her friends as she normally does. I thought I could trust my daughter.

“I am very grateful that she was found and got the medical help she desperately needed and hopefully this message will make other parents aware of the dangers of alcohol and prevent it happening to someone else’s child.”

A police spokesman said: “Portadown NPT have posted this message with the full co-operation of the family involved in this incident. Investigations are still ongoing to determine where this young female got the alcohol. She has also received a follow up visit from our Officers and was given full information about the dangers of alcohol/drugs.”