A 20-year-old gym enthusiast, Jazmin Garza, was left fighting for her life after consuming a popular energy drink that led to multiple cardiac arrests during her workout.
The incident, which occurred in late November, has raised serious concerns about the potential dangers of energy drinks, especially for young, healthy individuals.
Jazmin, who lives in Texas but was in Iowa at the time, had just finished a set of weighted deadlifts with her boyfriend, Isaac Ayala, when she began feeling light-headed and dizzy.
She had consumed one-third of a can of Ghost, a caffeinated energy drink, before her workout. Moments after sitting down to steady herself, Jazmin collapsed and started having a seizure.
Isaac immediately rushed to her aid, only to discover that her heart had stopped beating and she was no longer breathing. He began performing CPR while waiting for paramedics to arrive.
Medics shocked her heart to restart it, but Jazmin went into cardiac arrest four times in total, with her heart stopping for up to five minutes at one point. Each time, oxygen was cut off from her brain and organs, leaving her kidneys, lungs, and heart severely damaged.
Jazmin was placed on life support, including ECMO (a machine that oxygenates the blood), dialysis to support her kidneys, and a ventilator to control her oxygen levels. Doctors told her family that she would “need a miracle to come back to us—and be the same Jazmin we knew.”
After two weeks in the hospital, Jazmin miraculously recovered and was sent home. However, doctors were unable to determine the exact cause of her cardiac arrests. Jazmin had no prior heart issues or family history of heart problems, and all tests came back normal. She believes the energy drink, combined with an undiagnosed heart condition, may have triggered the episode.
“Our best guess is that I’ve always had this but just never paid mind to it. When I’ve had palpitations in the past, I’ve just thought it was anxiety or something,” Jazmin said. “I don’t think the energy drink was the main cause. I think it was a contributory factor for everything to go wrong.”
Ghost, the energy drink Jazmin consumed, contains 200mg of caffeine—more than double the amount in two cups of coffee. It also includes ingredients like carnitine, neurofactor, and alpha-GPC, which are marketed to boost energy and athletic performance. However, energy drinks like Ghost come with significant risks, especially for individuals with underlying health conditions.
Energy drinks have been linked to cardiac arrest, depression, anxiety, and even colon cancer due to their high caffeine and sugar content. For people with heart conditions, these beverages can disrupt the heart’s rhythm, leading to life-threatening complications.
A UK study of 1.2 million people found that young energy drink consumers were more likely to experience poor mental health, including anxiety and depression.
Jazmin’s near-death experience has left her with a renewed perspective on life. “I feel like I’ve had a second chance at life now. I want to do even better now,” she said. “If this had happened later on in life or if I was on my own, I might not have made it. Everything just went perfectly wrong.”
She also urged others to listen to their bodies and seek medical attention for any concerns. “I would tell people to just listen to your body. Get any concerns checked out because you might avoid something this big later on down the line.”
Jazmin and Isaac are now facing overwhelming medical bills and have lost their jobs due to the time taken off for her recovery. They have started a GoFundMe to help cover expenses and return to Texas to be with their family.
This harrowing incident serves as a stark reminder of the potential dangers of energy drinks, even for young, healthy individuals. While they may provide a temporary boost, the risks far outweigh the benefits.
