E-Paper
Who was Katie Donnell? Heart attack kills Florida ‘workout queen' at 28, and her mom blames energy drinks
Katie Donnell, 28, was committed to a healthy lifestyle but often drank three energy drinks a day, and “was drinking a lot of coffee,” according to her mother.
A fitness and caffeine enthusiast, 28, reportedly died from a heart attack. Katie Donnell’s grieving mother now believes energy drinks are responsible for her daughter’s death.
Donnell was committed to a healthy lifestyle. However, she often drank three energy drinks a day. She took a caffeine supplement before hitting the gym.
“At 28, you just don’t see people dropping dead of a heart attack,” Donnell’s mother, Lori Barranon, recently told Kennedy News & Media. “She was a workout queen, she ate real clean, she ate organic food, she was the epitome of health other than [having energy drinks].”
Who was Katie Donnell?
Donnell was a Florida teacher. Her mother said that Donnell may have believed that the energy drinks and caffeine would give her more energy, according to The Daily Mail. “She thought it'd help her work out and give her more energy. She was working out, working full-time and going to school,” Barranon. 63, said. “I think she got used to the buzz.”
Barranon claimed that her daughter did not really have any health issues. However, Donnell did deal with really bad anxiety.
“She had horrible anxiety and went to several doctors,” Barranon said. “I don’t think it was real anxiety, I think it was her abuse of caffeine and energy drinks.”
Donnell collapsed while hanging out with her friends in August 2021. The pals initially thought she may have suffered a stroke, and called an ambulance. However, it was too late.
“She was without oxygen for too long and it caused brain damage,” Barranon said. “They worked on her for three hours, and she never woke up.”
Donnell’s seizures worsened after she spent as many as 10 days in a medically induced coma. Her family then had to make the tough decision to take her off life support.
“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,” Barranon said. “I know for a fact that was what was wrong with her.”
Barranon said that Donnell “was drinking a lot of coffee” and “would buy a four-pack [of drinks] every two to three days.”
The heartbroken mother sounded the alarm so that other families do not have to face such tragedies. “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,” Barranon said.
“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,” she added.
