Tom Dingle, 19, from Appley Bridge near Wigan, was found dead in woodland on Christmas Day 2025, according to multiple reports. His body was discovered by a member of the public, concluding a 12-day search operation by Lancashire Police that involved helicopters, drones, dogs, and underwater teams. The coroner later stated that Dingle took his own life less than a month after his girlfriend's death, in woodland near Dalton in West Lancashire, though sources differ on the precise location.
Dingle was a Lancaster University student with a history of mental health problems, multiple reports indicate. Medical professionals said he told them he was suffering from intrusive thoughts and emotional distress imagining a future without his partner.
On November 21, 2025, Dingle found his girlfriend Natasha Braithwaite, 19, dead in her university halls bedroom, according to multiple reports. Dingle had fallen asleep before plans to see Braithwaite, then called her and got no answer, leading him to go to her halls at Bowland College, Lancaster University. He raised the alarm after being unable to contact her, went to her flat, and woke her housemates. When they entered her room, she was unresponsive on the bed, and paramedics pronounced her dead at the scene, though some reports state she was found unresponsive on November 20, creating a discrepancy in the timeline.
Lancashire Police detectives found a metal spoon taped to Braithwaite's desk, indicating it had been used for heroin, a spokesperson confirmed. Toxicology tests showed she had fatal levels of morphine in her system, according to multiple reports. Assistant Coroner Sara Sutherland stated the concentration of total morphine was within the range encountered in fatalities attributed to morphine use, and the compound taken was likely heroin, though the specific type or purity remains unknown.
I love you both and you have done everything you can for me.
Natasha Braithwaite was a first-year fine art student from Lincoln who suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder, multiple reports indicate. She had suffered with post-traumatic stress after an incident in Abu Dhabi in December the previous year, though the exact nature and details of that incident are not publicly known.
A coroner recorded Braithwaite's death as drugs-related, according to official records. An inquest into her death was held on Tuesday March 10 at Preston Coroners' Court, multiple reports indicate.
After finding Braithwaite dead, Dingle's parents drove to Lancaster to take him back to his family home, according to multiple reports. He returned to Lancaster to see friends on December 9, 2025, and told his father he had taken an overdose, leading to hospitalization. On December 12, 2025, it was agreed Dingle would be seen by an at-home treatment team, but he left the house that night to get cigarettes, and his mother raised the alarm with police. Dingle was last seen alive in the early hours of December 13, 2025, after leaving his parents' home to buy cigarettes, though the specific mental health treatment he was receiving before his death has not been disclosed.
In a separate incident, Olivia Wojciechowska, 19, died after suddenly collapsing at a Halloween rave on November 1, 2025, after taking MDMA, according to multiple reports. Wojciechowska was a second-year business student at Liverpool John Moores University. She attended a K-Pop Demon Hunters-themed Halloween rave at Blackstock Market in Vauxhall.
Natasha was a very kind girl who was extroverted, and they met at a fresher's night.
Scarlett Tonna saw Wojciechowska take MDMA around one to two hours after arriving at the rave, she said. Another member of the group saw Wojciechowska consuming MDMA before she collapsed at around 10:05 PM. After collapsing, Wojciechowska was taken to a welfare tent, where staff used ice bags to try to lower her temperature, and an ambulance was called, though the source or supplier of the MDMA remains under investigation.
Wojciechowska was taken to Royal Liverpool Hospital, arriving at 11:45 PM, and was intubated and placed on a ventilator in the emergency department, multiple reports indicate. Her liver and kidney functions deteriorated, and she was given medication and placed on dialysis. On November 3, 2025, she was approved for a liver transplant and was transferred to Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham on November 5.
A CT scan on November 5 confirmed Wojciechowska was unlikely to survive, and she died on November 7, 2025, before the transplant could be carried out, according to multiple reports. A post-mortem examination found her cause of death was multi-organ failure, acute liver failure, and drug intoxication.
The deaths have sparked reactions about mental health support gaps and drug dangers among university students.
Several unknowns persist, including the specific mental health treatment Tom Dingle was receiving before his death and the exact nature of the incident in Abu Dhabi that caused Natasha Braithwaite's post-traumatic stress. It is also unclear whether any criminal charges or investigations are ongoing related to the drug use in either death, or the source of the MDMA taken by Wojciechowska.