Wood's death was covered widely in the news media, produced debate on drug use among adolescents and inspired the memoir Anna's Story (1996) by Bronwyn Donaghy.

Wood had recently left The Forest High School after completing Year 10 to pursue a career in beauty therapy at a salon near her home in Sydney's North Shore.

[2] On 21 October 1995, Wood and a group of school friends attended an "Apache" rave dance party at the Phoenician Club on Broadway in Ultimo, in inner-city Sydney.

Wood's symptoms showed no signs of improving: there were continued episodes of dry retching, intermittent sleep, confusion and possible convulsion-like movements, followed by a lapse into unconsciousness.

Wood remained in a coma throughout the period and did not regain consciousness; she died on Tuesday, 24 October 1995 after her life support was turned off following the declaration that she was brain dead.

The syndrome of inappropriate antidiuretic hormone hypersecretion (SIADH) that occurs in some users of MDMA can compound hyponatraemia by disrupting the body's normal response of releasing excess water by excretion.

Whereas previous ecstasy-related incidents had received minimal coverage and were reported in the context of crime, delinquency and secrecy, Wood's "girl next door" image, and death, was extensively covered and turned into a warning against illicit drug-use in society.

[citation needed] The initial coverage of the event was soon followed by media stories ranging from concerns about drug use in Australian teenagers to attacks on techno music and raves for their corrupting influence on youth.

[12] The death of Anna Wood also fuelled perceptions that drug-taking was a serious problem among Australian teenagers, even though a NSW AMA report from the time established that only 3% of 14- to 19-year-olds had used ecstasy.

In NSW, the Code of Practice for Dance Parties was passed in 1997, which made the provision of chill rooms and free water compulsory for clubs to obtain their licence.