A mom in Florida is warning people about energy drinks after losing her daughter. Katie Donnell was just 28 when she died suddenly after drinking them regularly for years.
Lori Barranon said: “If you don’t keep your kids away from this stuff, you may be in my situation where your life is ruined. It’s so harmful and deadly, my whole family is affected by this.”
She added: “I beg people to counsel your kids and watch what they’re doing, I thought I was. I tell everybody I see with energy drinks that this is what it can do in the blink of an eye. I think energy drinks should be banned.”
Katie had a routine that included energy drinks, coffee, and pre-workout supplements to help her stay alert and fit. She worked full time, went to school, and worked out twice a day.
Her mom said Katie often drank a pre-workout supplement first thing in the morning and would go through a four-pack of energy drinks every couple of days. Her car was full of cans when her mom cleaned it out after she passed.
“One of her friends said she’d hardly see Katie without an energy drink in her hands. She thought it’d help her work out and give her more energy. She was working out, working full time, and going to school – burning it at both ends.”
Katie had gone to the doctor for anxiety, but Lori now thinks that was from too much caffeine. She said: “She had horrible anxiety and went to several doctors. I don’t think it was real anxiety, I think it was her abuse of caffeine and energy drinks.
“Doctors never asked her about her diet. When she would stay away from them and change her diet, the anxiety went away. What does that tell you?”
Katie had no known heart issues, but she collapsed while out with friends and was rushed to the hospital. She was put on life support but never woke up.
Her mom said: “She was out with friends, and her eyes rolled back, and she was staring. They thought she had a stroke, but they realized she was having a heart attack.
“The ambulance got there and couldn’t intubate her. She was without oxygen for too long, and it caused brain damage. They worked on her for three hours, and she never woke up.”
Doctors at first thought she may have been on drugs, but that wasn’t the case. “She was left for 10 days in a medically induced coma, but she never woke up.
“Whenever she tried to wake up, she was having seizures. Then her body started to fail, we had to do that horrible thing that nobody wants to do.”
Lori said her daughter lived a healthy lifestyle in every other way. “At 28, you just don’t see people dropping dead of a heart attack.
“She was a workout queen, she ate real clean, she ate organic food, she was the epitome of health, other than [having energy drinks].”
Doctors wouldn’t list energy drinks as the official cause, but Lori believes it’s what led to the heart attack. “Doctors said they see this happen a lot with people that do a lot of pre-workout or energy drinks, but they wouldn’t give the cause of death to that.”
“I know for a fact that was what was wrong with her.”