A man who went into cardiac arrest in the back of an ambulance having taken MDMA (ecstasy) could not be resuscitated, an inquest has heard.

Jakub Jarzecki, 21, was unresponsive when he arrived at Royal Blackburn Hospital on May 2 having been treated in the ambulance as it travelled from Nelson.

Doctors continued to work on Jakub at the hospital for around half an hour, giving him a breathing tube and chest compressions to ensure his heart continued to pump blood.

CPR on Jakub continued while doctors also monitored his high temperature but his condition continued to deteriorate to the point where it was decided their efforts were futile.

The inquest at Preston Coroner’s Court heard Jakub did not have any known underlying health conditions, which led doctors to believe on his arrival at around 10am that day that his condition was drug-related.

Paramedic Michael Ford from the North West Ambulance Service said when he arrived at the house in Castle Street, Nelson, Jakub was lying on the sofa looking grey and clearly unconscious.

Due to his serious condition – fast breathing, a high temperature, and dilated pupils – he was quickly moved to the ambulance.

He suffered multiple seizures en route to the hospital for which he was given diazepam to control them.

A colleague of Jakub’s, who was employed at Wellocks in Nelson, said that in the hours before his death they had been on the night shift together.

Another of their colleagues had been told he had been suspended, so after their shift they met up at a house and drank together.

The group included Jakub’s brother-in-law, who he lived with alongside his sister having moved to Nelson from Italy, initially being from Poland.

That morning, the brother-in-law received a call saying he needed to come and help Jakub. He initially thought it was just to take him home after he had drunk too much, but as soon as he realised his condition he called an ambulance.

Police officers also attended the scene and found two small snap bags – one in the living room where Jakub was found and one in the kitchen.

A toxicology report from Dr Steph Martin at Sheffield Teaching Hospital found evidence of MDMA use in the hours prior to death, at a level associated with death related to MDMA use alone.

It also found evidence of alcohol in his system but at a low level.

Coroner Sian Jones concluded the inquest by recording a medical cause of death as MDMA toxicity and a conclusion of drug-related death.

She said: “On May 2, Jakub Jarzecki collapsed while at a house in Castle Street, Nelson, having taken MDMA, and was taken to Royal Blackburn Hospital where he could not be resuscitated and was pronounced dead.”