poledriver
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Hanna Lottritz’ account of binge that almost killed her goes viral
WHEN Hanna Lottritz sat down to write about the night that changed her life, it was cathartic. She never imagined her story would help so many other people, too.
The response has been enormous.
In a blog post that’s since gone viral, the university student from Nevada started by declaring she was happy. It was her 21st birthday, she wrote, but she’d be tempering her celebrations.
“I will not be taking birthday shots and getting wasted tonight,” she wrote.
There’s a very good reason for that, she explained. Six months earlier after drinking excessively, Lottritz wound up in a coma. She was as close to death as is physically possible.
“The doctors thought I was brain dead because I was completely unresponsive,” she wrote.
The night was July 26, 2015, and Lottritz and her friends were out for the ‘Night in the Country’ music festival.
“I thought I was going to have a fun day with friends,” she wrote.
“I woke up, had breakfast and started what would end up being the worst 48 hours of my life.
“The first part of the day was a lot of fun. We met new people and had a really good time. After dinner we went to the concert.
“At the concert I had two beers. Many of the people I was with had been drinking throughout the day and were already feeling good. I hadn’t started drinking until a little after dinner and I felt a little behind. My problems started after the concert.”
She said playing “catch up” almost killed her.
“I am a competitive person by nature and this group was mostly guys who (for some reason) I promised I could outdrink. Around 11:30pm, one of my guy friends and I were seeing who could take the longest chug from a bottle of Black Velvet Whiskey.
“Immediately after this I told my friends I felt fine, and about five minutes later I collapsed. I wasn’t breathing. My friends picked me up and started carrying me to the medical tent.”
The 20-year-old was transferred to a hospital in Reno via a careflight helicopter. When she got there, doctors feared the worst.
“I was in critical condition, suffering from acute respiratory failure and acute alcohol intoxication. My blood alcohol concentration was .41 when I arrived at the hospital, five times over the legal limit. The doctors thought I was brain dead because I was completely unresponsive.
“My pupils were sluggishly reactive, I had no corneal reflex and I wasn’t responding to verbal or painful stimuli. I finally woke up about 24 hours after I arrived at the hospital. I had a tube down my throat and my hands were restrained so I couldn’t pull it out.”
On her blog, Lottritz shared a photograph of her in her hospital bed. She said the first thing she remembers is her mother’s hand in hers.
“I felt like I was dreaming. Everything seemed foggy. I drifted in and out of consciousness for the next few hours. I was coming out of a 24-hour coma.”
Now recovered and preparing to celebrate her milestone birthday, Lottritz says she’s learned a lesson she’ll never forget. That lesson has resonated with the more than 400,000 people who’ve read her story so far.
“I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard the phrase, ‘Let them sleep it off, they’ll be fine in the morning,’ but I’m alive today because my friends got me help. Don’t take a chance if you see a friend passed out from drinking too much. Get them help as soon as possible.”
For her birthday, she decided to have a glass a wine with her family. She said she’d been overwhelmed by the positive response to her blog entry but a handful of people criticised her for that one glass. She insists it’s not about the glass at all. It’s not even about alcohol.
“I’ve gotten mixed responses,” she told news.com.au
Cont -
http://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/re...l/news-story/4936bed049f2a9e58a6a236d6921f5d2
WHEN Hanna Lottritz sat down to write about the night that changed her life, it was cathartic. She never imagined her story would help so many other people, too.
The response has been enormous.
In a blog post that’s since gone viral, the university student from Nevada started by declaring she was happy. It was her 21st birthday, she wrote, but she’d be tempering her celebrations.
“I will not be taking birthday shots and getting wasted tonight,” she wrote.
There’s a very good reason for that, she explained. Six months earlier after drinking excessively, Lottritz wound up in a coma. She was as close to death as is physically possible.
“The doctors thought I was brain dead because I was completely unresponsive,” she wrote.
The night was July 26, 2015, and Lottritz and her friends were out for the ‘Night in the Country’ music festival.
“I thought I was going to have a fun day with friends,” she wrote.
“I woke up, had breakfast and started what would end up being the worst 48 hours of my life.
“The first part of the day was a lot of fun. We met new people and had a really good time. After dinner we went to the concert.
“At the concert I had two beers. Many of the people I was with had been drinking throughout the day and were already feeling good. I hadn’t started drinking until a little after dinner and I felt a little behind. My problems started after the concert.”
She said playing “catch up” almost killed her.
“I am a competitive person by nature and this group was mostly guys who (for some reason) I promised I could outdrink. Around 11:30pm, one of my guy friends and I were seeing who could take the longest chug from a bottle of Black Velvet Whiskey.
“Immediately after this I told my friends I felt fine, and about five minutes later I collapsed. I wasn’t breathing. My friends picked me up and started carrying me to the medical tent.”
The 20-year-old was transferred to a hospital in Reno via a careflight helicopter. When she got there, doctors feared the worst.
“I was in critical condition, suffering from acute respiratory failure and acute alcohol intoxication. My blood alcohol concentration was .41 when I arrived at the hospital, five times over the legal limit. The doctors thought I was brain dead because I was completely unresponsive.
“My pupils were sluggishly reactive, I had no corneal reflex and I wasn’t responding to verbal or painful stimuli. I finally woke up about 24 hours after I arrived at the hospital. I had a tube down my throat and my hands were restrained so I couldn’t pull it out.”
On her blog, Lottritz shared a photograph of her in her hospital bed. She said the first thing she remembers is her mother’s hand in hers.
“I felt like I was dreaming. Everything seemed foggy. I drifted in and out of consciousness for the next few hours. I was coming out of a 24-hour coma.”
Now recovered and preparing to celebrate her milestone birthday, Lottritz says she’s learned a lesson she’ll never forget. That lesson has resonated with the more than 400,000 people who’ve read her story so far.
“I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard the phrase, ‘Let them sleep it off, they’ll be fine in the morning,’ but I’m alive today because my friends got me help. Don’t take a chance if you see a friend passed out from drinking too much. Get them help as soon as possible.”
For her birthday, she decided to have a glass a wine with her family. She said she’d been overwhelmed by the positive response to her blog entry but a handful of people criticised her for that one glass. She insists it’s not about the glass at all. It’s not even about alcohol.
“I’ve gotten mixed responses,” she told news.com.au
Cont -
http://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/re...l/news-story/4936bed049f2a9e58a6a236d6921f5d2
