Family says Lynnwood WSU student died from alcohol poisoning
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SPOKANE, Wash. (AP) - The family of a Washington State University student who died last weekend said Wednesday that Kenneth Hummel died from acute alcohol poisoning.
Hummel, 18, from Lynnwood, was found unconscious Saturday morning at Stephenson Hall on the Pullman campus. Police say they received a call early Saturday from students saying Hummel was unconscious and they were performing CPR. He died later in the day at Pullman Regional Hospital.
The Whitman County coroner Pete Martin said Hummel had a blood alcohol level higher than 0.40 when he died.
Hummel's aunt, Lea Ann Easton, told a Seattle news conference Wednesday that her nephew also consumed some high-caffeine energy drinks that the family believes contributed to his death.
When a person drinks too much, they normally fall asleep or throw up, Easton said.
"With these caffeinated drinks, the body doesn't shut down," she said. "You can drink alcohol past the point where the body can handle it."
Hummel was a big kid, over 6-feet tall, his aunt said.
"He was the kid who would be talking to everybody, with a big smile on his face," Easton said.
The family wants to educate young people about the dangers of mixing alcohol and energy drinks, she said.
Meanwhile, Whitman County Coroner Peter J. Martin said a person would have to drink about a fifth of hard liquor to have a blood alcohol level of 0.40. The legal limit in Washington state is 0.08 percent.
Washington State University officials are responding to the death by forming a task force to study ways to reduce alcohol use and deal with over-consumption and other alcohol issues, spokesman Darin Watkins said.
"It's a national problem that's now come to light here in WSU," Watkins told The Spokesman-Review. "Somehow this year we're seeing more life-threatening alcohol conditions than ever before."
Watkins said four other WSU students have been hospitalized this year after drinking so much that they stopped breathing. They were revived, he said.
School president Elson Floyd issued a statement about Hummel's death Wednesday.
"The information in the coroner's report is sad and disturbing," Floyd said. "It also is a dramatic incentive for us to re-double our already extensive efforts in student education about alcohol use and abuse."
Hummel, 18, from Lynnwood, was found unconscious Saturday morning at Stephenson Hall on the Pullman campus. Police say they received a call early Saturday from students saying Hummel was unconscious and they were performing CPR. He died later in the day at Pullman Regional Hospital.
The Whitman County coroner Pete Martin said Hummel had a blood alcohol level higher than 0.40 when he died.
Hummel's aunt, Lea Ann Easton, told a Seattle news conference Wednesday that her nephew also consumed some high-caffeine energy drinks that the family believes contributed to his death.
When a person drinks too much, they normally fall asleep or throw up, Easton said.
"With these caffeinated drinks, the body doesn't shut down," she said. "You can drink alcohol past the point where the body can handle it."
Hummel was a big kid, over 6-feet tall, his aunt said.
"He was the kid who would be talking to everybody, with a big smile on his face," Easton said.
The family wants to educate young people about the dangers of mixing alcohol and energy drinks, she said.
Meanwhile, Whitman County Coroner Peter J. Martin said a person would have to drink about a fifth of hard liquor to have a blood alcohol level of 0.40. The legal limit in Washington state is 0.08 percent.
Washington State University officials are responding to the death by forming a task force to study ways to reduce alcohol use and deal with over-consumption and other alcohol issues, spokesman Darin Watkins said.
"It's a national problem that's now come to light here in WSU," Watkins told The Spokesman-Review. "Somehow this year we're seeing more life-threatening alcohol conditions than ever before."
Watkins said four other WSU students have been hospitalized this year after drinking so much that they stopped breathing. They were revived, he said.
School president Elson Floyd issued a statement about Hummel's death Wednesday.
"The information in the coroner's report is sad and disturbing," Floyd said. "It also is a dramatic incentive for us to re-double our already extensive efforts in student education about alcohol use and abuse."
The parents need to stop blaming the drinks. The energy drinks did not mask the symptoms of alcohol poisoning nor did they make it worse.Â
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He was a big guy with a body fat judging by the picture. Alcohol takes longer to be metabolized through fat than it does muscle. He likely drank and did not feel any effects because it hadn't metabolized yet. More than likely it hit him all at once.Â
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The parents need to understand that this was a tragic death by a young man making a poor choice. Caffeine wasn't responsible for it.Â
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As harsh at it sounds sometimes families need to wake up and accept the fact that people die as a result of their own foolishness. Not every death is the fault of someone else. I bet the family will try to sue now.
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Time to take responsibility for a change. Â
I think you need to review the evidence more closely. He's not the first person to have reportedly combined the drinks and died. He may have made an uninformed choice, which isn't a choice at all.
 @seattleemt It's so true. We were drinking fifths of alcohol a dozen years ago without the help of energy drinks, and every year we'd hear about kids dying then too.
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It's not the Rockstars and 5 Hours, it's the booze.Â
Task force? This was a crime, akin to manslaughter. A kid that shouldn't have access to alcholol some how had acces to enough to kill him. Some may say it was his fault, fine. But he wasn't alone. He got the alcholol somehow. Track that down and start arresting people or suing them, either one. The strong message is to put some legal muscle behind it. You don't need a task force, we already know what the issue is and how to prevent it. Enforce the LAW!!!
Moron(s)
Sounds like a quality fellow....
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The drinks are not to blame. His poor choices are. I find it hard to feel sorry for him.
Don't feel sorry, spread the word. Don't mix these drinks.
 @Smashquail You are a total idiot, What college kid doesnt choose to drink, I hope you get in a bad car accident on the way to work this morning.
 @Chitownhawksfan   I know LOTS of college kids who choose not to drink. Your hope that someone would be in a bad car accident is repulsive and you should be ashamed of yourself.
 @Smashquail  @here_I_go_again You find it hard to feel sorry for a college kid who DIED from doing what every other kid in college does, he was not shooting up heroin or anything like that, he was getting drunk. Thats what most college kids do. I feel terrible for him and his family, and i did think before i post, you sound like a heartless a hole
 @Chitownhawksfan  @here_I_go_again That is not what I said. The point I was making is that he made the choice to drink a ton of alcohol, without thinking about the consequences.Â
And for your info, I did not get in a bad car accident. And I would never wish that upon anyone.Â
Please start  thinking before you post.
 @here_I_go_again well did you read what i was replying too? the guy basically is saying the kid got what he deserved because he drank.
I am a WSU alumi and I am so sad to hear about the death of a fellow cougar :-( My heart goes out to the family, and to the students who have been affected by this tragedy. It is awful that it takes someone dying before the university really cracks down on binge drinking on campus. I hope that this is a big wake up call for the entire Pullman campus.
I'm sick of hearing that Energy drinks are to blame. Stupidity is to blame. Underage drinking is to blame. Combining a .4 BAC with a lot of things can kill you, so we should probably pull those things from the shelves as well, right?
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Alcoholic energy drinks should never have been pulled either. People die from a ton of other things yet they are still sold. Cars, cigarettes etc. Better pull those also lest we hurt ourselves.
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This reminds me a lot of that other case where the girl died because of "energy drinks". No, she died because she had heart issues and should have avoided caffeine.
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Sick of the GD gov't taking away my choices.
You sound like a dolt. Grow up!
How about if the family wants to 'educate young people about not drinking' especially underage. Â I think some more could be made of that point than was given in the report.
"The legal limit in Washington state is 0.08 percent"- Sorry but the legal limit is .000 for a 18 year old, get the facts straight. After 18 you can drink alkl you dam well please so long as your not driving a 60 mph bullet.
 @Kugan In Washington State the legal drinking age is 21. That is the reason why so many Wazzu students drive to Moscow, Idaho where the legal drinking age is 18. They get hammered in Moscow and then drive back to their dorms. I don't know about now but in my day that road from Pullman to Moscow was a killer, especially at night and in the winter.
 @Furd  @Kugan One of the last states to change the drinking age to 21 was Louisiana. I'm not aware of any state that has an age requirement of 18 and I haven't seen requirement that low since I was in high school back in the early '80s.Â
 @Furd  @Kugan No you have to drive all the way to Canada.
 @Furd  @Kugan I thought they changed that in 87'. Now it's 21 in Idaho.Â
 @Furd  @NicAngela It's 21 in every state and has been for many years now. It's all the same everywhere, mainly to avoid what Furd just described.
 @NicAngela Maybe they did. My time was back in the '70s.
Many years ago I read about a Navy CPO arrested with a BAL of 5.6. The article said that levels that high were normally reported by the coroner. Some can, some canât, but 18yoâs never do. Â
 @oldster70 Are you SURE it wasn't 0.56? 5.6 would be pickled and preserved.
I'm curious, how much alcohol would you have to drink to reach an alcohol level of .40? It seems like an awful lot.
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My prayers go out to his family.
 @Tuscany "Meanwhile, Whitman County Coroner Peter J. Martin said a person would have to drink about a fifth of hard liquor to have a blood alcohol level of 0.40."
 @caphillkid  @Tuscany in 10 minutes? in 1 hour? in 3 hours? I can drink a fifth in a month or more... the coroner's statement is meaningless without the factor of time involved.
@caphillkid Thank you! I guess I missed that part. So sad! :-(
Another waste of a good young man's life to booze. Tragic.
His life will not be a "waste" if you spread the word on what could possibly happen when you mix these drinks. Call it boogeyman tactics - choose to make a difference and talk about it with your friends.
The world is short one more of the good guys.
Alcohol is a loaded gun with a hair trigger. It doesn't care who it kills. It's too bad they can't think of safer alternatives. Keeping their nose in the books is the best way.
I know they need to get recreation too.
I KNOW that alcohol consumption is not a prerequisite for being there, though.
I don't need it, neither do they.
 @Elvis College kids drink, its a part of college life, i drank when i was in college and so did every other kid unless they were a total reject and loser.
 @Chitownhawksfan I know, it's the norm, just wish that were not so. People should wait until their frontal cortex is fully grown before they try to improve it with drugs and alcohol. Maybe some of them really DO know what they are doing and they will see an improvement from those things but I doubt it.
 @Chitownhawksfan Really? A reject and loser if they didn't drink? I beg to differ. I had friends in college who never drank, and they certainly weren't losers. Your attitude that "it's just a part of college life" is part of the problem. Just because it happens doesn't mean you should have a blase attitude about it.
 @tats76 The only kids i remember not drinking in college were the nerds who had no friends, they sat around playing video games, 95 percent of all the students drank in college, its just what you do. The friends you have i am guessing are not very cool, probably losers who like to sit around and play video games?
I've seen students - not just college-age, but high school/middle school students too - drinking those "5hr energy" drinks or Red Bull like there's no tomorrow. They think it's "safe" but they're not.  Unfortunately WSU has ALWAYS had the "party school" reputation and no amount of lecture, crack downs etc... is going to stop that. You're preaching to the choir.
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WSU is not the only school with a "drinking" problem. EVERY university has underage drinkers on campus... you just don't see/hear of them unless a tragedy occurs.
 @newsreader Agreed! I know a family member who went to CWU which is just as bad and hard core at partying and had liver damage the doctor said.. also yes the student made a poor choice probably keeping up with competition.. and energy drinks and booze combined is horrible combo.
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Also another family member died of .30 poisoning and it was over a period of years of misuse, his liver failed because of the repetitive binge drinking. I know for myself just energy drinks I get heart palpitations but that's just me.
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Each person reacts to things differently, and combining things makes it even scarier. the kid was probably hazing or looking for a good time nd trying to fit into a certain group and not thinking. He was 18 of  course, guys develop in rational choices much slower than women, in general.
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But overall its the choice of crowds each person chooses to hang with and what pressures to give in to, all of this is at any school. He was an inexperienced drinker. His parents educating others is so important and I respect them for that. The US people are trying to  to pass marijuana and people say that is bad, which i agree in some aspects but others overlook the fact that alcohol is roughly 3x as deadly as marijuana and that is legal for age 21. Kids when they are told they cant do something will do it anyway, college is a time for experimenting before the real adult world, this kid did just that.
My 22 year old daughter just informed me that when she was 18 years old and during her first week of university at WSU she ended up in the infirmary with acute alcohol poisoning. She said the doctor explained to her how close she had come to death. I was so shocked I had no idea that had happened, but thankfully she became homesick and at the end of her freshman year she chose not to go back. This happens every year and parents are not informed because after all, their child is of age(not to drink but considered an adult). I pray for this young mans family and friends.
Alcohol is now a mainstay of America as the grocery store, etc sell more booze and liquor every year. Â The parents don't warn their children of it's hazards. Â Some always have to have a couple of drinks every time they go out to dinner/ and at home. Like father (mother) like son (daughter). Â No longer politcally correct to run these public service ads.Â
@HullenbeckCowl If a kid is smart enough to get into college, I'm pretty sure he or she has heard about the dangers of alcohol.Â
"The legal limit in Washington state is 0.08 percent"
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the legal limit? so im only allowed to get as drunk as 0.08? sure it's obvious that this is for driving... BUT HE WASN'T DRIVING!
Makes sense when hazing at WSU often involves chugging a fifth of liquor
Love how it is always someone elses fault. In this case the family is implying that if he hadn't been consuming energy drinks. Actually in this case if he had just consumed the energy drinks and skipped the alcohol (as he should have as it is illegal for persons under 21 to drink) he would be alive right now. Additionally, I hate to tell you, but it is entirely possible to drink a fifth of alcohol before your body shuts down.
@Surveyor1
I don't think the family is trying to blame anybody. Otherwise, the headline would be the all-too-familiar "Family Sues University, Alcohol Manufacturers, Energy Drink Manufacturers, And Anybody Who Happens To Be Reading This". I think they just wanted to point out how mixing energy drinks and alcohol could create a deadly situation that many people probably hadn't considered. I commend them for taking the opportunity to make something positive out of this tragedy rather than blaming others.
Just wait til the Attorneys show up on their doors to get a piece of the action.
 @Central  @Surveyor1 If the family is reading this, I would like them to know that I will share this story with my class tomorrow.
But the marketing machine for alcohol must continue to work toward increased profits, they don't care about this family's loss. A culture of alcohol consumption and equation of alcohol with "fun" must be created and maintained for the sake of profit. People have come to beleive drinking is one of their "rights" that the government is interfering with. A sad state of affairs in our society,
Well he obviously was not going to school for rocket science, as any drop out knows the affect of overdose, and over consuming.
 @sultan1978 Actually, many high GPA kids have issues like this.  WWU lost a 4.0 student to alcohol the year my son entered college.  No, not all kids understand what alcohol overdose consists of.