THE HEART-BROKEN mother of a 15-year-old cancer survivor who died after a suspected drugs overdose has issued a desperate warning to other teenagers to stay away from drugs.

Sam James, of New Waverley Road, Basildon, has spoken out after the death of her daughter Sherie-Lea James in the hope it will persuade other young people to avoid risking taking drugs.

The Billericay School pupil was rushed to Basildon Hospital in the early hours of September 1 after being taken ill at a house party in South Ockendon but sadly died after suffering several cardiac arrests in the ambulance.

Ms James, 43, said: “I met her at 4pm and gave her £20 and she said she was going to Lakeside but said we would have a girly night the next night.

“Then at about 5.30am the police were knocking on my door.

“They said she had been to a party but was in an ambulance and was in a bad way.

“I was taken in a car to Basildon Hospital and waited for quite a while for her - she had gone into cardiac arrest at the side of the road but they got her back.

“She had a second cardiac arrest just before she got to the hospital. When they brought her in they called me in and they were working so hard.

“They broke her ribs they were trying so hard. It was horrific.”

Sherie-Lea’s death is made even more tragic by the fact she had battled liver cancer and survived a liver transplant when she was just three-years-old.

Ms James said: “When she was 20 weeks old we found out she had hepatoblastoma - liver cancer - and a 6lb tumour and she started chemotherapy the next week.

“She eventually got a liver transplant from a little boy who had died in Spain, the RAF flew it over.

“Normally it takes ten to 12 hours for the surgery but it fitted her like a glove and only took 45 minutes.”

But the illness meant Sherie-Lea, who would have turned 16 last Wednesday, had a lower immune system so when she caught a bug she would get it much worse than anyone else.

Ms James said: “This year had been the best six months of her life, she was fit and healthy and looked amazing.

“She had been on holiday with her friends and was just living her life.

“We were planning a big trip to America to see family when she finished her GCSEs.

“It’s just so tragic, I still can’t believe she is gone really.”

Although Ms James is still waiting for the results of a toxicology report, Sherie-Lea’s death is believed to be drugs-related and her mother has been told she may have taken ecstasy.

Ms James, who believes it would have been completely out of character for Sherie-Lea to take drugs, has now urged other young people to avoid taking drugs and to remember the horrific consequences it could have.

She said: “This could happen to anybody; please don’t do it. You don’t know what you are taking and it is just not worth it.”

However, after seeing negative comments online, she has also begged people not to judge her daughter for what happened and said: “This could happen to anyone, it can be just that one mistake.

"My daughter was a lovely, good, caring girl who got mixed up with the wrong friends.

“She hated drugs; she was anti-drugs. I know it could have been that one night, that one mistake but I won’t ever accept it.”

After Sherie-Lea's death two men were arrested on suspicion of possession with intent to supply drugs.

The 19-year-old man from South Ockendon and a 29-year-old man from London, have been released on police bail until November 29.

Another teenager at the property, a 15-year-old girl, was also taken ill and taken to Basildon Hospital but her condition was not life-threatening.

Donate to Sherie’Lea’s funeral at youcaring.com/sherie-lea-james-638127