After the untimely death of singer Amy Winehouse, many saddened fans assumed that the troubled singer, whose past included severe drug and alcohol addictions, died from her vices. But now, the British soul singer’s family has come forward saying that Winehouse died from alcohol withdrawal.
According to Britain’s The Sun, family sources say Winehouse died after ignoring her doctor’s advice to gradually cut down on her drinking, instead going cold turkey. The stress of the dramatic withdrawal was too much her for petite 4’11 body, sending her into a fatal seizure.
“Abstinence gave her body such a fright, they thought it was eventually the cause of her death,” said a source close to Winehouse’s family.
Reports claim that Winehouse allegedly went on a drinking bender three days prior to her death, throwing back gin and Red Bull mixes at the the iTunes festival at the Roundhouse in Camden, North London, where her goddaughter Dionne Bromfield, 15, was the support act for The Wanted.
An onlooker at the event claimed that the Back to Black singer downed “gallons” of the potent gin and Red Bull concoction and “drank the bar dry.”
The witness added, “Amy was behaving really erratically, but that was nothing out of the ordinary for her.”
However, the source claims that during his eulogy at her funeral, Winehouse’s father, Mitch Winehouse, denied the reports.
“He wanted everyone to know that he, her boyfriend and her manager believed it was actually the complete opposite,” said the family source.
Adding, “He said doctors had told Amy to gradually reduce her intake of alcohol and to avoid bingeing at all costs. Amy told him she couldn’t do that. It was all or nothing and she gave up completely. Mitch said the shock of giving up, after everything she had been through over a bad few years, was just too much for her to take.”
Winehouse’s mother, Janis, and her boyfriend, Reg Traviss, both saw her the day before her death and were assured that she wasn’t drinking. Winehouse’s doctor also saw the singer that day and gave her a clean bill of health.
An autopsy report from earlier this week revealed inconclusive results as to the cause of Winehouse’s death, leaving the singer and her fans to wait for the results of a toxicology test, which will be revealed in the coming weeks. But Sun doctor Carol Cooper explained that the Winehouse family’s alcohol withdrawal theory is actually feasible.
“The heaviest drinkers have a particularly severe form of alcohol withdrawal called delirium tremens, or DTs,” said Dr. Cooper, adding that “They may fall into a stupor and sleep it off, or lapse into a coma or have dangerous seizures.”
Ro will keep you updated as more information becomes available about Winehouse’s death. –nicholas robinson
