Bellingham girl, 14, died of alcohol poisoning
BELLINGHAM, Wash. (AP) - A 14-year-old Bellingham girl who was found dead in her bed had a blood alcohol level higher than .40 percent.
Whatcom County Medical Examiner Gary Goldfogel said this week the cause of death for Hazel Christine Phair was alcohol poisoning.
The Whatcom Middle School student had returned from a party about 2 a.m. Sept. 29 and went to bed where she was found later that morning by her mother. Medics could not revive the girl.
A blood-alcohol level of 0.40 can be deadly even for adults. In Washington state, the legal limit for drivers is 0.08.
The Bellingham Herald reports toxicology tests showed Phair also had marijuana in her system. Police are still investigating her death.
Whatcom County Medical Examiner Gary Goldfogel said this week the cause of death for Hazel Christine Phair was alcohol poisoning.
The Whatcom Middle School student had returned from a party about 2 a.m. Sept. 29 and went to bed where she was found later that morning by her mother. Medics could not revive the girl.
A blood-alcohol level of 0.40 can be deadly even for adults. In Washington state, the legal limit for drivers is 0.08.
The Bellingham Herald reports toxicology tests showed Phair also had marijuana in her system. Police are still investigating her death.
Alcohol is a dangerous drug. I saw my Dad die of the illness of alcoholism and let me tell you it isn't pretty. Parents should educate their kids to the danger of booze. I am not implying that the parents are at fault for this tragedy  but I bet they are both boozers.
Wow...this is so sad! You have to wonder where the parents were and why they didn't notice her missing. Her alcohol education was fatal, unfortunately. A young life snuffed out too soon...
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I learned about alcohol in a safe, controlled environment - my parents started by buying me a 4 pack of wine coolers on my 16th birthday. They also gave me the warning that if I so much as set a pinkie toe outside of the house without one of them accompanying me that I would be severely grounded until I was 900 years old.From then on, I might have had half a glass of wine every once in a very great while, or a glass with a bit of champagne and lots of orange juice on New Year's Eve, but my parents knew about every single drop of alcohol I had as they were the ones that offered it on exceedingly rare occasion.
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I'm grateful that they took the initiative to teach me responsible alcohol consumption, and have to wonder if the same education would have saved Hazel's life.
Its sad that she had to die and I hope her friends and school mates learned a lesson from her. I do want to say one thing. Felons can be great parents. I know a couple of felons through work and have gotten to know them and their family's and I have seen better parenting through them then people who have never been in trouble.Â
Lack of experience with hard alcohol probably played into the extraordinarily high BAC. Poor kid. Sad stuff posted below about the mother. It's not a "do-as-I-say" world.
 @Exedore Makes you wonder if other civilised countries not encumbered by such Puritanical idiocy regarding alcohol/minors have this issue? Â
I still wonder what a child this age is doing out til 2 a.m. in the morning. There is no reason a child that age needs to be out running around at that time. This is so sad.
 @Jatok The only thing I can think of is the mother and father were not together and the girl told her mother that she was going to meet up with her dad after he gets off work to catch a late movie ( due to the father working late shifts) but had other plans. I know that this is probably not what took place.
what does the 'legal limit of .08' have to do with anything? a) theres a zero limit for under 21 and b) they can cite you for DUI at ANY level of alcohol or even zero if they feel like it.
I think they were just trying to give the uneducated reader a reference.
Wow. Somebody's going to jail. Probably not near enough people for nearly as long as they should but... somebody's going to jail.
Party till you drop, she did. Wow!!! Way to go parents.
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My parents drank like fish. My grandparents drank like fish. A six pack of beer lasts me six months. I never have liked drinking. Please explain how this poor girl was doomed because her mother is most likely a drunk. We make our own choices in life and by 14 we are old enough to make good choices.
"....and by 14 we are old enough to make good choices...."
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If you honestly believe that, well - good luck with that. Taken at face value, I don't think ANY child psycologist would sign off on that theory. While someone of 14 should possess the capability of making qualified, sound & smart decisions, unfortunately their actions tend to overwhelmingly trump that "ability".
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With mommy's behavioral charactersitics - which includes her alcohol consumption - this child was unfortunately destined for an outcome such as this. Her peer network shares some of the blame as well, as a fair number probably come from homes equally as troubled, and obviously weren't very responsible..
Bottom line: Parenting.
@Throbbinhood And lack there of
I'm going to blame two parties, the parents and who ever provided the alcohol. What 14 year old girl should be out to 2AM? Did the parents check out this party before they let her go? How did she get there and how did she get home?
I can't say whether or not the mother is to blame, but I can say I did alot of dangerous things as a teenager and my parents were the best any kid could ask for. I was stupid, never listened and had a few close calls. Sure I lived to tell the stories but it could have easily gone awry and my parents would have been grieving, wondering where they went wrong. It wasn't them, it was me.
 @izwideopen I wish I could 'like' this twice. You are absolutely right. My parents were awful. I remember my 11th birthday I swore I would be nothing like them, ever. Children do have an awareness which we rarely give them credit for.
Wow. Â It's hard to get that much alcohol in your system; you tend to puke or pass out before you can drink a toxic level. Â What the hell was going on at that party???
 @Tim Lane Betting this isn't the first time she did this.  WIth a family history of alcoholism, she is predisposed, tho not inevitable.  A tragedy that one so young went down that road & died as a result.
@Tim Lane Not if you are doing shots really fast - if you are taking them so fast that your body has not had time to catch up it can happen very easily.
When I was 16 or 17 I was out with a friend (one with I had not hung with outside of school). She drove us to some older guys house where he took out a bottle of tequila and they started to do shots. Up until this point I had not drank hard booze before but not wanting to appear strange or fearful I joined in the drinking game with them. It was shot after shot, probably 10 shots in a couple of hours (give or take a shot and fuzzy on the time). I remember going outside that had a trailer on the property and I remember going into the trailer and laying on the floor trying to concentrate on my breathing and the spinning was out of control. At this point I had no clue where my friend was or where that much older guy was. I just remember spinning and knowing something was very wrong but I couldn't move. The next thing I remember was waking up at a hospital getting crap put down my throat - god awful. My mother had no clue where I was, I had snuck out my window after everybody went to bed and even at the hospital they didn't know who I was because my so called friend and this much older guy were not the ones that found me in that trailer. He had a family member living there and when this person came to their trailer they found me passed out with vomit and called an ambulance. Scary thing that ever happened to me in my teenage years and I could have died because my BAC was 0.34!!!!! My mother was not at fault - it was my choice to sneak out like sneaky teens do! So it's way to easy to say "where was her parent, what is a 14 year old doing out till 2 a.m." - My guess is she snuck out. Either way, kids will be stupid and often want to fit in without realizing a choice could kill/harm them. I have yet to be that drunk. I learned a lesson for life. I stick to wine or beers these days.
 @alildifferent THANK you for posting that! We had 2 of our kids act like that and now that they are grown, they tell us we couldn't have been better parents and that you can't choose your kids' friends for them.
@Commenter87643 - I've always been one to find out thing for myself - curious and defiant at times. My mom had nothing to do with the way I behaved, I often rebelled against the system and sometimes still do but now I do with my brains instead of being stupid.
What the hell is a 14 year old doing out until 2am?! Absolutely outrageous.
 @Tattooed_Angel the mother was probably too incapacitated by alcohol or drugs to care.
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@SunWorshipper @Total Cheers to you too. My daughter is 24 and is a teacher. She does not drink, smoke or take drugs.  I used to say, when she was little, I had a young lady in training rather than a daughter. Then I had a young lady. Before I knew it, I had a gracious and lovely young woman for a daughter. I know she is setting a great example for her young students too.
 @Gottadance  @Total Same here. Glad to hear there are others out there that have learned from their parent's misgivings. Good for you. I hope you, in turn, have set this example for your children, as it is easy for a child who grew up with a great example like you, but a high likelihood for addiction in their genes, to start boozing or drugging for "fun" at some point, not realizing how slippery the slope can be. I grew up with two alcoholic parents and one step-parent that rarely drank, so I lucked out with a great example. Cheers to you!
@Total Khaos My father was an alcoholic. It made for a miserable home life. He had a very good living and we could have had wonderful family times. I never drank at any age. I will toast the bride or the new year and that is the end of my alcohol consumption. I suppose it depends on wether or not you are willing to learn from the mistakes of others. There is no way I would put my family through that.
@Total Khaos  That is probably the most telling information right there. With an alcoholic for a mom, the girl may have gotten the booze from her mom's stash and taken it to the party herself.
I hope they talk about this at our high schools...
@Komo Dragon -- Um...middle school, I'd say. Looks like she must have had a late birthday becuase the article says she was in middle school.Â
 @Bianca  @Komo good point, thx. They should talk about it in both then.
This is so deep in out culture that it will take an extreme effort for a generation to change this behavior. This happens too often. Some jurisdictions have helped by making it clear that no person will be arrested as a result of bringing an intoxicated minor to a hospital for medical help. It is deemed petty to treat a serious medical issue as a crme.
I have only one question: What type of parent would allow a 14 year old to be at a party until 2:00 AM? The parent should be charged with child neglect.
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 @Total Khaos  @Tooby The child neglect started probably much earlier, because at 14 most girls I know are pretty responsible in their behavior, much better than boys.Â
 @Tooby Roosday nobody says she was allowed... do your children always do as you say? That sounds suspicious.
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 @Tooby Roosday I am going nowhere, staying right here where I can be obnoxious ;-)
@tkyed  I drank heavily when I was a teen but it wasnt till I started working and got my own car. That was a deadly combination that I am lucky to have survived and even more lucky that I didnt kill or maim someone else. Mom and Dad dont always know but at 14, they should have watched her more carefully.
@Tooby Roosday @Komo Dragon I used to sneak out at 14 and drink. I thought it was cool. I had strict hard working parents but i didn't always listen. We do not know the details so we shouldn't be so quick to judge. The most important thing is that hopefully this girl is at peace.
Whoever threw that party needs to be arrested, whether he gave her alcohol or not. No way a 14-year old is prepared physically or emotionally for a party where alcohol and drugs are readily available.
 @SouthofSeattle you forgot your teenage years?Â
 @Komo Dragon I NEVER drank at 14. I was raised to think before I acted.
 @Komo Dragon I highly doubt anyone here has ever been "above 0.4" BAC, let alone at age 14 with marijuana in their system. That's a death sentence if not monitored.
 @caphillkid i never said that
14 years old and allowed to go to parties until 2am, or a rebellious teen that had snuck out? Sad either way.
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@Total Khaos So how many times are you going to post that about her mother? Why is the mother to blame anyhow? Where's the father?
0.4 is just insane. I think it's the highest blood alcohol level I have ever heard about period. She should have been in the hospital getting her stomach pumped instead of being sent off to bed by mom and dad.  Â
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 @caphillkid in defense of the mother, it's not that easy to determine how drunk someone is, or is going to be... 4.0 per mille was the bac when her body shut down and stopped metabolizing the alcohol. When she went to bed she might still have been able to communicate - drunk but conscious. If she had passed out at that time, the mom might have taken her in or called 911. The time to reach peak alcohol level depends on many factors, e.g. how fast you drank, what you have eaten before, genetic disposition, etc. I can tell from personal experience that I once left a bar feeling totally sober, riding a bicycle home for 5 miles, where I "suddenly" found myself drunk like a skunk. Â
@caphillkid Doesnt say her parents put her to bed; says she came home from a party and went to bed. Parents found her in the morning and called paramedics.
 @northwestsurfer Read the previous stories from KOMO. The mom "wasn't thrilled" about her daughter coming home trashed, but sent her off to bed.Â
@caphillkid  Do you have additional information to this story? I didnt see where her mom and dad "sent" her off to bed. It is highly more likely that they had no clue that she was drunk (especially to that extent). That is where the real tragedy is. Clueless mom and dad.
 @scared_citizen If you have a blood alcohol level of 0.4, you are close to death. Adults can die from 0.3. Â
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I'm sure the parents are smart enough to keep their mouths shut now, but originally it was reported that the mom and her interacted before the daughter went to bed.Â
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Besides, someone obviously knew she that she came home at a specific time of 2am.Â
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I have no doubt that the parents are now no longer cooperating with police, as they are likely to face charges themselves.