A lonely gamer narrowly escaped a brush with death after allegedly downing a dozen cans of energy drinks in 10 minutes in a “legendary” stunt to wow his co-workers.
“A man drank 12 energy drinks in 10 minutes. This is what happened to his organs,” Dr. Bernard Hsu tells viewers in the opening moments of a YouTube video that recently resurfaced.
Hsu, a clinical pharmacist whose Chubbyemu YouTube channel boasts more than 2.6 million subscribers, often uploads humorous re-enactment videos of bizarre emergency room tales he’s either witnessed or heard about.
In this case, Hsu explains that the patient in question, “JS,” was admitted to the ER with “breakthrough abdominal pain.” In the video re-enactment, JS is portrayed as a chubby, bespectacled 36-year-old man obsessed with Pokemon, video games and things he couldn’t have as a kid. He has struggled socially throughout his life.
Hsu describes the ordeal in mortifying detail, telling viewers that after chugging the energy drinks, JS develops heart flutters and back pain. He decides to take a shot of liquor and ends up vomiting in a kitchen sink.
“Immediately after chugging all 12 energy drinks, JS didn’t feel well,” Hsu stated.
He added: “To take his mind off everything, he started playing some games.”
The gamer, who was later unable to eat or drink anything, allegedly delayed seeking medical attention for several hours, which Hsu said ultimately resulted in the onset of acute pancreatitis.
At the hospital, doctors made a shocking discovery: JS’ pancreas had started to “digest itself” as his body struggled to keep up with the pound of sugar and loads of caffeine from the 12 cans. His pancreas was swollen with fluid, Hsu said.
The fluid build-up became infected, according to Hsu, and his liver and kidneys started to shut down. Doctors treat the unnamed gamer, who reportedly vomited on a nurse’s shoes, with IV fluids and antibiotics before releasing him, Hsu said.
The incident, Hsu explained, was a “wake-up call” for the man. His blood tests showed he had prediabetes — a condition where blood sugar levels are higher than normal, but not high enough for a diabetes diagnosis.
“Most people know that energy drinks can be dangerous when consumed in huge excess,” Hsu told viewers. “If you have one once in a while, and you’re young and healthy, it’s probably not a big deal. But if you start chugging multiple cans back to back, then bad things are probably going to happen.”
The YouTube video has racked up more than 6.5 million views since it was posted in September 2021.
“The main thing I learned from Chubbyemu’s videos is that, as soon as you get hospitalized, for any reason, no matter how ashamed you might be, ALWAYS tell everything that happened to the doctors,” one user wrote in the video’s comments section.
Health experts have long sounded off on the danger sugary caffeinated beverages such as Red Bull, Monster, 5-hour Energy, and Rockstar pose, particularly as energy drink challenges have proliferated on TikTok and other social media platforms.
In 2021, OnlyFans model Briatney Portillo suffered a heart attack after she recorded herself undertaking TikTok’s “dry scooping” challenge,” in which users were prompted to ingest a handful of supplemental energy powder without water.
“I never thought something like this would ever happen to me,” Portillo, then 20, told The Post. “Especially because I’m so young.”