A 21-year-old musician suddenly died from a caffeine overdose after consuming a protein shake.
Lachlan Foote was a healthy young man and just one day away from his 22nd birthday when his parents found him lifeless on the bathroom floor of their home in the Blue Mountains west of Sydney.
His father, Nigel Foote, spoke about the sudden death of his son hoping it might save someone else’s life.
According to a coroner’s report, Lachlan died of unknowingly ingesting a high amount of caffeine. He inadvertently overloaded a protein shake with one teaspoon of pure caffeine which is equivalent to 50 cups of coffee.
In a heartbreaking message posted to a Facebook group on the night before he passed away, the 21-year-old revealed his protein shake had tasted weird.
He wrote at 2:07 am: “’I think my protein powder has gone off. Just made an anti hangover / workout shake and it tasted awful.
“Anyway … night lads. Cya in the morning.”
But after a few hours, Lachlan was already found lifeless. His family now wants to share the story to warn others and his father claims it only takes one teaspoon to create life-threatening consequences.
Caffeine power is commonly added to energy shakes and drinks. However, combining it with other legal drugs can be dangerous.
Alcohol and Drug Foundation warned that drinking caffeine with alcohol places ‘enormous strain on the body’ and may also mask some of the effects of alcohol.
The young musician drank his caffeine-laden shake after he just returned from a night out with some of his friends.
It is unclear how Lachlan got the caffeine powder but his father believes he may have received it from a colleague or a friend.
“It’s very likely that Lachlan never got to read the warning label on the packet and was unaware of its potency,” he wrote on Facebook.
According to a Cornell University fact sheet, “Mixing two spoonfuls of the powder (pure caffeine powder) into a drink is the same as drinking 70 Red Bulls at once, which could kill you.”
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