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Alex Rossetta and Luke Parkin are sports science students at Northumbria University in Tyne, England. When the university announced that they were conducting an experiment measuring the effect of caffeine on exercise, both men volunteered to be part of the test subjects.
For the experiment, Rossetta and Parkin were supposed to be given 0.3 grams of caffeine powder to consume.
But for some reason, the university ended up giving them 300 grams.
A cup of coffee has 0.3 grams of caffeine; the students were given an amount of caffeine that was equivalent to 100 cups of coffee.
In the past, scientists have reported that 18 grams of caffeine is considered the “fatal” limit of consumption.
This overdose “could easily have been fatal,” the prosecutor reported.
Thankfully, both Rossetta and Parkin were hospitalized and treated. They received dialysis and lost 20 pounds each – but both survived the incident.
"The staff were not experienced or competent enough and they had never done it on their own before," the prosecutor continued. "The university took no steps to make sure the staff knew how to do it."
The university is now facing steep fines.
Both Rossetta and Parkin have made full recoveries physically, but one is still recovering from slight short-term memory loss.
Let this be a warning to everyone: don’t drink too many cups of coffee a day. It could actually be deadly.
