Teenager dies at Leeds Festival after taking MDMA

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Anya Buckley, 17, died at Leeds Festival after taking MDMA. Aunt calls for better drug education for young people after tragedy.

Teenager dies at Leeds Festival after taking MDMA

A teenager who had just been accepted onto an apprenticeship died the next day after taking the drug MDMA at Leeds Festival 2019.

Seventeen-year-old Anya Buckley, from Oldham, died at the festival site of Bramham Park in the early hours of 24 August 2019 after taking a number of illicit drugs.

Her aunt, Anna Short, said Anya had successfully interviewed for an office administration apprenticeship the day before the festival, which she attended with a group of friends and her boyfriend. She said: "She made a mistake and paid for it."

She added: "She was a typical teenager - just out with her friends all the time, enjoying herself. Her life was just starting to come together...and that that was all taken away."

Call for better drug education for young people

Ms Short has called for better education for young people around drugs after one of Anya's close friends told her she didn't learn about it in school. She believes a lack of education around drugs, and the fear of getting in trouble, prevented Anya's friends from getting her help sooner when she started becoming poorly.

"There is a stigma attached to drugs and substances," she said. "It's just about opening up those conversations and being informed and removing that judgement to create safe spaces where young people feel able to speak up, ask questions, access support."

Published on 28 August 2025 by UKFG

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