On what seemed like a normal afternoon, 20-year-old fitness enthusiast Jazmin Garza from the U.S. suddenly collapsed, experiencing severe dizziness and convulsions. Her boyfriend, alarmed, quickly realized her heart and breathing had stopped. He performed CPR until paramedics arrived and revived her with a defibrillator. But this was only the start of a life-threatening ordeal.

During the ambulance ride, Jazmin’s heart stopped several more times—one arrest lasting up to five minutes. Each episode deprived her brain and organs of oxygen, leading to significant damage to her lungs, kidneys, and heart. Doctors placed her on life support and warned her family that only a miracle could bring her back to the person they knew.

Jazmin later recalled that before the incident, she had consumed a caffeine-heavy energy drink during a gym session—something she didn’t usually do. Not long after, she felt pale, dizzy, and passed out. Her boyfriend later told her it looked like an epileptic episode, though she had never experienced one before.

In the hospital, she was connected to multiple life-support machines, including ECMO for oxygenating her blood, a dialysis machine for her kidneys, and another to regulate oxygen levels. A defibrillator was also implanted to monitor and correct her heart rhythm. Despite extensive testing, doctors couldn’t determine a clear cause for her cardiac arrests.

Remarkably, after two weeks of intensive care, Jazmin began to recover. Her heart tests came back normal, but doctors speculated the energy drink, with its 200mg of caffeine, might have triggered a crisis in combination with an undiagnosed heart condition. Jazmin admitted she had ignored symptoms like palpitations, assuming they were due to anxiety.

The ordeal left both Jazmin and her boyfriend jobless and burdened with medical debt. Now, she urges others to listen to their bodies, seek medical advice early, and be cautious with high-caffeine products.