Natasha Marie Harris coca cola
Her partner Christopher Hodgkinson claimed it was a result of drinking too much Coca-Cola.
On Thursday he told the inquest Natasha had been unwell leading up to her death and had no energy, but the idea Coca-Cola caused the problem had never crossed their minds.
Mr Hodgkinson told the court that she had been unwell up to a year before her death, including vomiting six times a week, but they believed it was caused by the stress of looking after her eight children and gynaecological problems.
“She drank at least 10 litres a day,” he said. “The first thing she would do in the morning was have a drink of Coke and the last thing she would do in the day was have a drink of Coke by her bed.’’
Police who investigated the death estimated she consumed, on average, seven litres a day.
Her partner said she was addicted to Coke and without it she would get moody, irritable and be low
“I didn’t ever think about the Coke. I never considered it would do any harm to a person. It’s just a soft drink, just like drinking water ... I didn’t think a drink’s going to kill you,’’ he said.
Vivien Hodgkinson, Mr Hodgkinson’s mother, said she would go “crazy’’ if she ran out of the drink.
An autopsy showed Natasha had a diseased liver but the cause of death was undetermined.
Her partner said he had been told she had a heart aneurysm caused by too much Coke.
Medical evidence stated that the main finding of death was from a cardiac arrhythmia.
Dr Dan Mornin told the court Natasha probably had severe hypokalemia, a lack of potassium in the blood, relating to excessive consumption of soft-drink.
He said although it was difficult to confirm this from post-mortem tests, it was consistent with her symptoms of tiredness and lack of strength and other cases of heavy soft-drink consumers.
He added it was likely the vomiting was due to too much caffeine, medically known as caffeine toxicity.
In June last year Coca-Cola confirmed it had hired a security firm to shadow its staff, after Mr Hodgkinson allegedly made death threats against the company.
He rejected claims he had made the threats, but said he held the company responsible for Harris’ death.
Coca-Cola’s New Zealand managing director George Adams said at the time that Mr Hodgkinson’s claims were “patently untrue’’.
Currently, a coroner’s inquest in New Zealand is trying to make sense of this tragedy.Pathologist Dr Dan Mornin told the court Ms Harris’ main cause of death was cardiac arrhythmia, but she also had severe hypokalemia – lack of potassium in the blood – probably relating to excessive consumption of soft-drink. He said although it was difficult to confirm this from post-mortem tests, it was consistent with her symptoms of tiredness and lack of strength and with other cases of heavy soft-drink consumers. Dr Mornin said it was probable a combination of factors, including poor diet, played a role in her death.Ms. Harris’ partner, Chris Hodgkinson, is convinced Ms Harris’ consumption of about 7.5 litres of Coca-Cola every day contributed to her death and has called for health warning labels on the soft drink.
He told the court she had been unwell up to a year before her death, including vomiting six times a week.
Dr Mornin said it was likely her vomiting was caused by having too much caffeine in her body.
Mr. Hodgkinson said he had known Ms Harris since she was 16. She had always drunk Coke, but in the past seven or eight years she had increased her consumption to five bottles a day.
Mr Hodgkinson said she was addicted to Coke and without it would become moody, irritable and “quite nasty” and be low in energy.
But he did not suspect the beverage could be making her ill.
Natasha Harris, a stay-at-home mother of eight from Invercargill, died of a heart attack in February, 2010.
A pathologist, Dr. Dan Mornin, testified at the inquest Thursday that Harris' heart attack was caused by cardiac arrhythmia (abnormal heart rhythm), Fairfax Media reported.
He added it was likely she was suffering from hypokalemia (low potassium) a condition that can lead to abnormal heart rhythms. He said be believed the condition was likely caused by her excessive consumption of cola and overall poor nutrition.
Mornin said that Harris also had toxic levels of caffeine, a stimulant found in most colas, which also may have contributed to her death.
Harris' partner, Chris Hodgkinson, testified that Harris regularly drank between 4.5 and 10 litres of Coke every day, averaging about seven litres a day.
"The first thing she would do in the morning was to have a drink of Coke beside her bed and the last thing she would do at night was have a drink of Coke," Hodgkinson said in a deposition.
"She was addicted to Coke," he said adding that if she didn't have her daily dose of Coke, she got moody, had headaches and was low in energy.
He said he had known Harris since she was 16 and she had always drank Coke. But he said in the last seven or eight years of her life, she had increased her habit from a couple of 1.5-litre bottles a day up to five bottles a day.
Hodgkinson said Harris ate little and smoked more than a pack of cigarettes a day. Harris also had severe dental problems and all her teeth had been removed.
In the months before her death, he said, Harris felt sick all the time, experienced blood pressure problems and lacked energy. She had pain in her stomach and complained her heart would "pump like mad," Hodgkinson said.
He said he never suspected the Coke was making her ill.
"I never thought about it. It's just a soft drink, just like drinking water. I didn't think a soft drink was going to kill her," he said. Hodgkinson said he thinks cola drinks should come with warning label, saying that might have reduced the amount Harris drank.
"I know she wouldn't have wanted to die and leave her eight children with no mother," he said.
Karen Thompson, a spokeswoman for Coca-Cola Oceania, said in a statement that its products are safe.
"We concur with the information shared by the coroner's office that the grossly excessive ingestion of any food product, including water, over a short period of time with the inadequate consumption of essential nutrients, and the failure to seek appropriate medical intervention when needed, can be dramatically symptomatic."
Drinking too much water in a short period can lead to a condition known as water intoxication. The condition can cause hyponatremia, which is the dilution of sodium and other electrolytes needed to maintain basic heart and brain functions.
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