British vet, 27, collapsed and died in tropical storm while hiking with his wife in Colombia after his drink was spiked with cocaine at a music festival, inquest hears

• Thomas Arthur, 27, and partner Carolyn got lost while in Tayrona National Park
• He collapsed and never regained consciousness after spiking, she has revealed 

A vet collapsed and died in a tropical storm while out hiking in Colombia after his drink was spiked with cocaine at a local music festival, his widow revealed.

Tragedy struck when Lincolnshire-born Thomas Arthur, 27, and partner Carolyn got lost while exploring the Tayrona National Park on October 19 2019, an inquest heard.

Carolyn, who met her partner of four years at a practice in Aberdeen, said: ‘We’d taken a wrong turn and ended up on an area that was hard walking and Thomas had become breathless.

‘After more walking, he was in a bad way and we thought at first he had heat exhaustion. We were trying to make it to a hostel to get help when he collapsed.’

Carolyn put Thomas in the recovery position whilst going to get help from a nearby hostel. However, a tropical storm hit Brava Beach, where he had collapsed.

Thomas Arthur, 27, collapsed while exploring the Tayrona National Park on October 19 2019, an inquest heard

Mr Arthur’s widow Caroyln (left) paid tribute to him as ‘kind, caring and loving to his patients’.

With no boat or helicopter able to reach them, Carolyn tried desperately to save Thomas by performing CPR. But he never regained consciousness.

A post mortem revealed traces of cocaine in his bloodstream which may have contributed to the heart attack.

Mrs Arthur said she was ‘shocked’. She believed the drug came from drinks they had at a music festival a few days before the tragedy.

The inquest at Cleethorpes Town Hall heard Thomas grew up in nearby Kirton in Lindsey before moving to London and studying to become a vet.

After meeting Carolyn in a veterinary practice in Aberdeen in 2015, the pair moved to Edinburgh the following year and wed.

Mr Arthur and his partner Carolyn pictured together

Coroner Marianne Johnson recorded a narrative verdict, saying: ‘Thomas trained and worked as a vet and was kind, caring and loving to his patients.

‘Whilst hiking in Colombia, he and his wife had taken a wrong turn so the walk had gone on for longer than they thought.

‘By the time they got to the beach he had suffered from heat exhaustion and collapsed when his wife put him in the recovery position. Both oxygen and CPR were unsuccessful and he passed away.

‘We’ve been shown his death was an acute heart attack, linked to acute cardiac failure. The cocaine in his system is believed to be a possible cause of sudden death because of what it does to the heart.

‘Mrs Arthur was not aware and shocked to hear this. She suggested they may have been exposed to it at a music festival they’d been to.’

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