Last month, a teen gamer in Norway suffered severe kidney failure and fell into a coma after consuming over a gallon of energy drink in a 16-hour period.
Henrik Eide Dahl,14, was participating in an all-night Call of Duty LAN party and reportedly drank four liters of the caffeine-packed sugar-water in order to stay awake. Towards the end of the marathon, the teen collapsed.
“I was playing Call of Duty,” Dahl said. “Then everything went dark and I passed out.”
Dahl was flown to a hospital in Lillehammer as his kidneys failed and fell into a coma. He was kept alive by a respirator and drip.
One of Dahl’s doctors, Dr. Anne Kathrine Duns, said that the teen’s condition was so severe he could have died.
“It was severely life-threatening,” said Duns. “The central nervous system, cardiovascular system, lungs, and kidneys were affected.”
While the doctors suspect Dahl’s condition was most likely caused by the energy drinks, they’re not certain caffeine is solely to blame.
“I’ve never heard of such a powerful reaction to caffeine here in Norway,” Duns said. “But there are more substances in energy drinks than caffeine, including some amino acids and artificial sweeteners, so it may be a combination of several things in the drink that has triggered the reaction.”
After spending nearly two weeks in the hospital, Dahl has been released and is expected to make a full recovery.
