Story by Loretta Lowe
A normal Sunday turned out to be the worst day of our lives! My healthy 31 year old son Bruce (Buddy) Lowe was enjoying his first weekend off work in 7 weeks with his family. He worked at a local Nuclear plant as an electrical apprentice with IBEW Local 175 Union. He was also a full time student at his Apprenticeship School. He was the proudest Father on earth of his girls. He had 2 daughters that were 9 and his new baby girl that was 11 months. He always strived to be the best he could be. He worked 7 days a week 10 to 16 hours daily sometimes and to help him get through those long shift he done what we all thought was healthy and harmless…he drank what was advertised as “all natural” ENERGY DRINKS!
He drank energy drink daily for about 5 years without any adverse affects. He never had any warning signs and ate healthy and worked out as much as possible. He donated his every spare moment to volunteer as Coach of recreation baseball at our local school. He loved children with a passion and they in turn loved him.
He had a passion for his 2nd amendment rights and enjoyed collecting firearms. He never done drugs and always tried to steer teens away from them. He made a huge impact on many children in our community and that showed at his funeral. The kids still today talk fondly of their memories with “Coach Buddy”.
February 11 2018 my son had dinner and an energy drink then sat to enjoy his evening with his family. He was holding his 11 month old daughter on his sofa when all of a sudden he went stiff on the sofa and started making a gurgling sound… I was taking my shower at my home to get ready for bed when the call came in…as I turned the water off I glanced at the phone number that I had just missed and it was my sons fiance number…it shocked me because she rarely calls me so I immediately hit the return call button on my phone. She was panicked asking “Has Buddy ever had a seizure?” I said “NO WHY DO YOU ASK?” She stated “I think he is having a seizure, then immediately she said CALL 911 HE JUST STOPPED BREATHING!”
As I run through my home undressed screaming for his Father to get to his home I was calling 911. As we drove at speeds excess of 130mph, I was on the phone calling 911 telling them the only thing I knew at that time… “MY SON IS NOT BREATHING!” I then called every neighbor closer to him than I was begging them all to go to him and breath for him until we got there. During this time his fiance was doing CPR. We arrived at his home to find him still not breathing so his Father done CPR until my daughter and son in law arrived and my son in law started helping my husband. The 2 of them continued CPR for what seemed eternity until the EMS arrived. Paramedics took over and rushed him to the ER, Doctors almost immediately came to the waiting room and took us back to where we found a team of doctors and nurses still doing CPR. They had tubes and IVs everywhere it seemed.
After 4 more rounds of CPR in front of us the Dr stated “We are sorry we have done all we could” I passed out. It made no sense. How can this happen? He wasn’t sick. He had no health issues. He had no heart problems. I demanded an autopsy because I was sure someone had killed my son. My ONLY SON…MY BABY! I told them to check for poison..for anything that could have been snuck into food or drink and to look for a needle mark in case someone stuck a needle in him to murder him…but none of that was true…
We were devastated because this just doesn’t happen to healthy young men. We waited 6 weeks for the autopsy to be performed…but when the initial report came back it showed no reason for his cardiac arrest. So they done more extensive testing that are not normally done. The results were shocking! When the medical examiner called me to explain the autopsy, I was in such shock that I STILL couldn’t believe what he was saying! He assured me that I need not worry about anything genetic causing my sons death. That I do not need to be concerned about my daughter or my grandchildren having a heart condition..UNLESS…they drank ENERGY DRINKS! His last words to me were “warn others to stay away from these energy drinks that ultimately stopped your sons heart!”
At that point I started research and was shocked to find out my son was not an isolated case. Actually he is by far the not the only death at the hands of these careless individuals who make these deadly concoctions. Many other deaths have been linked directly to energy drinks but sadly there are NO RESTRICTIONS AND NO REGULATIONS on these drinks because they pose as “supplements”. Therefore the FDA does NO testing and knowing this…the energy drink companies can dump any amount of illegal and potentially deadly ingredients in those cans! As a matter of fact recent tests have confirmed that the labels on the cans are in fact not listing the true ingredients and the correct amounts of ingredients in each can. (per reports from Harvard and other sources)
My son left 3 girls that do not have a Father. He left his mother forever shattered and his Father without his son. His sister is trying to cope with a loss that we have never known. His nieces and nephews are devastated. His fiance is beyond crushed!
March 3rd 2020 I testified in Connecticut in front of Congress in hopes to pass H.B.5969 that prohibits the sale of energy drinks to children and several other states are in process of the same laws but as to date there are no laws or restrictions on energy drinks so they continue to take lives. My sons death on Feb 11 2018 has devastated our lives and I would love for the world to know the truth about the dangers of these deadly concoctions so they can make an educated decision before risking their own lives. No other mother should have to live with the loss of their child like I do mine. ENERGY DRINKS KILL!
PLEASE HELP US STOP THESE SENSELESS DEATHS
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