21 year-old student who was 'cursed from birth' collapses and dies at university

Get Best Daily Health Tips Here

The father of a student who died from a drug overdose said his son was 'cursed from birth'. Remi Gosal, 21, was found dead on a sofa in a student hall on March 2 last year.

He had moved from Canada six months prior to study law and Spanish at the University of Sheffield.

In the early hours of the morning, CCTV captured Remi stumbling into the block of flats where he lived, with police noting that he 'appeared quite intoxicated' and was 'unsteady on his feet'.

After finding Remi at 5.30pm in the communal kitchen, his friend tried to wake him before noticing his skin was cold to touch, according to Examiner Live.


Desperate for help and fearing the worst, his flatmate ran down to find security before dialling 999 with ambulance staff advising him to try and start CPR on Remi.

Paramedics pronounced him dead when they arrived at the flat.

A toxicology report found that he had fatal levels of codeine and alprazolam in his bloodstream, with the latter also known under its trade name of Xanax.

Remi, who had a black belt in taekwondo, was described as a 'sporty and bright boy', an inquest on February 28 heard.

His father Sarj Gosal said: "His level of drug use was at an addiction level, no doubt. From a cold, objective point of view I’m not surprised because Remi was hospitalised back home a couple of times.

“We took him to emergency once because he was on Xanax."

He also said there was a strong history of substance abuse within their family and he therefore believed his son was 'cursed from birth'.

"Remi didn't touch a drink for years but once he found alcohol and drugs he was hooked, particularly with the pills and alprazolam," Sarj added.


 "He was diagnosed with anxiety but after two weeks of being prescribed pills he liked the buzz and feel of it so his GP discontinued that. But thereafter he would buy Xanax off the street."

A few months prior to his death, Remi visited his GP in Sheffield amid fears he was becoming “restless and anxious” and would fall behind with his university studies.

He said, however, that he was not feeling depressed and there were no inclinations that he would self harm or had done in the past.

A follow-up appointment was made by the GP for three weeks after his initial visit in November 2018. However, Remi never showed up at the practice.

In his final remarks, assistant coroner Stephen Eccleston concluded that Remi died as a direct result of the codeine and alprazolam found in his bloodstream.