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Father issues Facebook warning after musician son, 21, dies of caffeine overdose from drinking protein shake

Lachlan Foote, 21, died after drinking a caffeine protein shake (Picture: Facebook)
Lachlan Foote, 21, died after drinking a caffeine protein shake (Picture: Facebook)

A 21-year-old musician died from a caffeine overdose after drinking a protein shake, his father says.

Lachlan Foote died the day before his 22nd birthday after adding too much caffeine powder to his drink.

His body was found by his parents on the bathroom floor of their home in the Blue Mountains, Australia, on New Year’s Day in 2018.

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His father posted on Facebook at the weekend that a coroner has ruled Mr Foote died of “caffeine toxicity”.

Just a teaspoon of caffeine powder can be the equivalent of up to 50 cups of coffee.

In a Facebook message to his friends the night he died, Mr Foote wrote that his shake had tasted strange.

“I think my protein powder has gone off,” he wrote at 2.07am. “Just made an anti hangover / workout shake and it tasted awful.

Mr Foote died the day before his 22nd birthday (Picture: Facebook)
Mr Foote died the day before his 22nd birthday (Picture: Facebook)

“Anyway… night lads. Cya in the morning.”

He was found dead just a few hours later.

His father, Nigel, wrote on Facebook: “While I don’t wish to keep raising the subject of Lachlan’s death on Facebook, I’m posting this because there’s a possibility it might save someone’s life.”

He said that the coroner’s report found that there was only a small amount of alcohol in his son’s system.

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“It turns out that Lachlan came home after celebrating New Year’s Eve with his friends and made a protein shake, innocently adding too much Pure Caffeine Powder – a teaspoon is lethal,” he wrote.

“We think Lachlan obtained the caffeine powder from a friend or work associate as a thorough search of his computer and bank statements, by both myself and the police, revealed no mention of caffeine powder, only related protein powder products.

Mr Foote messaged friends to say the protein shake had tasted strange just hours before he was found dead (Picture: Facebook)
Mr Foote messaged friends to say the protein shake had tasted strange just hours before he was found dead (Picture: Facebook)

“Therefore, it appears the pure caffeine powder was bought by someone else and shared, so it’s very likely that Lachlan never got to read the warning label on the packet and was unaware of its potency.

“And the fact that he kept the caffeine powder in our kitchen pantry (where one of us might have mistaken it for flour or sugar) proves the point – Lachlan would never have kept it there had he known it was a threat to the family. He was a bright, imaginative young man.

“We’re concerned that there might be other young people in his circle who bought or shared in this batch of pure caffeine powder and, like Lachlan, be unaware of the danger… hence this post.”

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