A mechanical engineering university student has died from alcohol poisoning after he downed a bottle of vodka while drinking with his housemates.
Manchester Metropolitan University student Mikey Cunniffe, 20, was watching YouTube videos with his friends last October when he fell asleep and never woke up.
A coroner later concluded the student, from Wigan, had died through alcohol poisoning.
However his mother, Chrisie Yates, described her son as not usually ‘one for drinking’.
She said: ‘You don’t think it’s going to happen to you until it does. On this one occasion a bottle of vodka killed him.’
‘He was loving life. He had a good night with his friends. He didn’t wake up, but he was in no pain.
‘He had a good head on his shoulders. He was very bright and he had the world at his feet. He was really generous and kind.’
Manchester Metropolitan University student Mikey Cunniffe (pictured with his mother Chrisie Yates), 20, died last October after downing the alcohol while watching YouTube videos with his housemates
Mikey, a second-year mechanical engineering student, was also in a band with his friends from Wigan, having taught himself to play guitar at 15.
He learnt how to speak Spanish and Italian and enjoyed salsa dancing and mixed martial arts.
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Ms Yates said: ‘He did more in his 20 years of live than most people do in 70. He was my blue-eyed boy.’
On Sunday, Mikey’s step-mother, Amanda Cunniffe, took part in a charity cycle ride from Manchester to Blackpool to raise money to donate to charity in his memory.
Mikey (pictured), a second-year mechanical engineering student, was also in a band with his friends from Wigan, having taught himself to play guitar at 15
Her best friend, Kerry Cain, joined her on the 63-mile journey, having both got into cycling during lockdown.
All the money raised, which currently stands at £1,000, will go towards a charity called The Compassionate Friends.
It helps to support bereaved family members who have suffered the death of a child or children of any age from any cause.
Ms Cunniffe said: ‘Not many people know about this charity. Me and my husband Mark (Mikey’s father) went through it all.
‘We thought it was a way to support all those people who have lost a children and are grieving.’
She also wants to help raise awareness of the risks of alcohol.
She said: ‘It’s something you would never really expect from Mikey. When the coroner report came through it was alcohol poisoning it was a massive shock.’
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