The death of the legendary Jamal Edwards will be a lesson to us all, his heartbroken mum hopes.
At just 31, the passing of the son of Loose Women panellist Brenda Edwards is simply tragic – more so now she has revealed the cause of his untimely death.
An inquest today at West London Coroner’s Court heard that Jamal died on February 20 after having a heart attack at his mother’s address in Acton after taking recreational drugs.
Following the finding, his anguished mum took to Twitter to share her devastation after discovering that her son passed away after taking drugs as she cautioned: “any one bad decision on any one occasion can lead to devastating consequences”.
The ITV panellist wrote that her son was taken far too soon and that his death is “proof that this can happen to anyone”.
She went on to warn others of the dangers of taking drugs that are “extremely unpredictable” and urged people to think before making the same choices Jamal did.
Brenda said she can’t get her son back but hoped her talking publicly about the circumstances around his passing would help save at least one life.
In a heart-breaking statement, Loose Women star Brenda penned: "I have sadly learned that the cause of Jamal's devastating passing was due to cardiac arrhythmia caused by having taken recreational drugs and I wanted to address this to everyone who loved, admired, and respected my son.
"Since finding out the news I have been in a state of shock, and I'm still trying to process it, but it's so important to me that I do address it as no mother or any loved one should have to go through what Jamal's sister, Tanisha, and I have been through since he passed."
Brenda went on: "Jamal had the world at his fingertips - a zest for life and he was unwittingly taken away far too soon. Yet we have to come to terms with what has happened, and Jamal is proof that this can happen to anyone.
"These types of substances are extremely unpredictable, and we can only hope that this will encourage others to think wisely when faced in similar situations in the future. His passing has shown that any one bad decision on any one occasion can lead to devastating consequences."
Brave Brenda continued: "It's so important that we help drive more conversation about the unpredictability of recreational drugs and the impact they can have. How it takes just one bad decision to destroy lives. I would do anything to have my son back but that is not possible so if I can help save one life, then we will have achieved something.
"Jamal and I had one of the strongest mother/son relationships that you could imagine. We were best friends, and out of his many, many, wonderful qualities the one that made me most proud was his mission to help others - he was the most selfless person I knew.
"He opened doors to help others walk through and from Jamal's own experiences in life, he just wanted to help people thrive; to live; to connect; to love; to laugh, and most importantly, to just be happy.”
Jamal was an entrepreneur, a director, an author, a DJ and a designer. He was awarded an MBE in 2015 – at just 24 – for his work in music.
Music pioneer Jamal - who was the founder of the online urban music platform SB.TV died in February this year.
Jamal was credited with helping launch the careers of stars like Ed Sheeran , Stormzy Jessie J and Dave, was the eldest of the Loose Women presenter's two children.
