THESE are surely frightening times for Bob Geldof, the Irish rocker/activist and parent of three daughters, one of whom seems to be well and truly off the rails.

The Sun tabloid in London on Tuesday reported that his middle daughter Peaches, all of 19, overdosed on drugs on Sunday afternoon and had to be revived by a friend and an ambulance crew which rushed to her apartment. Apparently Peaches stopped breathing for several minutes, and was successfully revived by mouth to mouth and several chest pumps.

"If she had not received this she could have died or she could have suffered brain damage. Peaches had gone into respiratory arrest, in which a patient's breathing stops but the heart doesn't," a friend told the paper.

"It was extremely serious and there is no doubt her friend saved her life."

After the revival Peaches said she was fine and refused further medical attention, fearful that her father would find out what happened.

"When she came to she started mouthing off and told the ambulance crew, 'You have to respect my privacy.' She then told them to get out," said a source. "And she refused to go to hospital to have further treatment because she was worried about it getting out."

Well, it's out all right, as media outlets around Europe picked up on the story. And it's not a fake tabloid tale either, as a spokesperson for London Ambulance, while not naming Peaches, confirmed that a crew was at her apartment, and that the "female patient" did not warrant any further treatment.

It is really sad to see this wild child travel down a dark path - one that killed her mother, Geldof's ex-wife Paula Yates, in 2000. Yates died of an accidental heroin overdose, and Geldof is reportedly freaked out by the prospect that any of his girls would even think about touching drugs.

Earlier this year Peaches was allegedly caught on tape trying to purchase drugs. And the teen is a constant fixture in the British tabloids, often pictured exiting this club or that party late at night in a haggard state.

She's found work before as a journalist, model and singer - our photos this week show her playing in a London club, with her dad in the audience providing support. Seems like he'll need to do his all to ensure that Peaches enjoys life on the straight and narrow, instead of her current state.

Not that an almost horrific drug overdose will stand in Peaches' way of a good time. On Monday night she donned her glad rags and walked the red carpet at the London premiere of The Dark Night, showing no ill effects of the previous day from hell.