This Girl Learned A Valuable Lesson In Drinking On Her 21st Birthday
If her friends had just let her "sleep it off," she wouldn't be alive today.
Hanna Lottritz, a 21-year-old college student, is warning others of the dangers of over-drinking after nearly dying from it herself.
She wrote on her blog that she had never had a night of such heavy drinking prior, warning others to be smarter and more aware of their alcohol intake.
“Before this incident, a normal night out would be a house party by the university with a few friends,” she told BuzzFeed News.
So, naturally, she did what most college kids would do in that scenario - she "caught up."
Lottritz and her friend, who were with a group of mostly guys, began drinking whiskey from the bottle, competing with each other for who could drink more.
“Apparently after I chugged from the bottle, I chugged a solo cup full of ‘Black Velvet Whiskey,’” she wrote. “Immediately after this I told my friends I felt fine, and about five minutes later I collapsed. I wasn’t breathing.”
“The doctors thought I was brain-dead because I was completely unresponsive,” she wrote.
When Lottritz finally woke up 24 hours later, she began realizing the magnitude of her mistake.
“[Nurses] asked me if I was trying to kill myself by drinking so much,” she wrote. “This question hit me the hardest. From my hospital bed in the Intensive Care Unit, my eyes were opened to the seriousness of being irresponsible with alcohol.”
“I feel guilty for what I put them through,” she said. “That night they didn’t think I was going to make it, and now whenever I leave the house my mom’s anxiety is through the roof.”
As for her second chance at life? She credits her friends' levelheadedness. “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,” she wrote.
Now, Hannah's story is being shared by thousands of others, with one common message: know your limits.
“This type of thing can happen to anyone, and seeing it instead of just hearing about it will hopefully make at least someone realize that,” she said.
Lottritz hopes to make a difference in "college drinking culture," and has already had a number of meaningful conversations with others.
“I’ve had mothers who have lost children in a similar way reach out to me asking if we can team up and spread the message of responsible drinking,” she said. “That’s been the best part of this whole experience.”