María José Ardila was out with friends just three days before she her 24th birthday – but passed out after the group started taking part in a series of six drinking challenges
A 23-year-old mum has died after taking part in a drinking challenge while celebrating her birthday at a nightclub.
María José Ardila, who has a 10-month-old baby, was out with pals just three days before she turned 24. The group enjoyed dinner before heading to a nightclub on October 25, where they took part in a series of six drinking challenges. The first was to drink a double shot of liquor in five seconds, the second was to down shots in five seconds, the third was to drink a beer nonstop and the fourth was to drink three shots without using their hands. The final two challenges saw the group drink a strong spirit known as aguardiente for 13 seconds without spilling a drop, before ending with eight different shots through a straw.
María, from Cali in Colombia, was at a local nightclub called Sagsa when the horror unfolded. A £296 (COP 1.5m) prize was up for grabs for the winner, which the victim’s family said had increased to £395 (COP 2m).
The young mum reached the sixth challenge in the early hours of the morning, but out of the eight shots, she only managed to finish three. She said: “That last one tasted horrible,” before falling unconscious on the floor in front of shocked friends and clubgoers.
The mum is said to have began convulsing, after which her friends tried desperately to get her into a taxi to transport her to the hospital – but no cars were stopping to take her. María then spent around 17 minutes unable to breathe.
Her father, Andrés Ardila, said she suffered aspiration pneumonia, causing one of her lungs to collapse. A friend was called to take María to a nearby hospital, where doctors resuscitated her on three separate occasions as she lost consciousness each time.
Andrés said: “I saw my daughter die three times. They revived her, intubated her, and that’s when we started praying for her.” She was taken to the ICU, where she spent three days, before her family made the heartbreaking decision to disconnect her from life support as she had suffered brain death.
A spokesperson for the Cali Health Secretariat said: “In light of the events that occurred in recent days, which unfortunately resulted in the alcoholic poisoning of a woman. We want to inform the community of the inspection processes that we will carry out in commercial establishments and off-licences.
“In order to guarantee and strengthen the safety process of the sale, marketing and consumption of alcoholic beverages in the city.”
A nightclub spokesperson said: “Sagsa Bar deeply regrets the events that occurred on 25 October this year. We express our solidarity, support, and condolences to the family during this difficult time and reaffirm our willingness to provide all necessary support and cooperation.”
An investigation into María’s death is ongoing.