Lydia Gale Clark, a student at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa, died after she apparently downed 16 shots on the night of her 21st birthday celebration.
Lydia Gale Clark had been seen “stumbling” at several bars on a six-hour drinking marathon that ended Saturday early in the morning, at 3.30 a.m.
According to the student’s friends, she had drunk about 16 shots of alcohol on Friday evening.
Police said that Lydia Gale Clark from Meridien, Kansas, who was an international relations and rhetoric student, woke at 9.30 a.m. on Saturday feeling “very sick” and asked a friend to help her use the bathroom at about noon.
The friend who helped her checked on Lydia Gale Clark a few minutes later and found her lying on the floor. The student had stopped breathing and was gasping and convulsing.
Lydia Gale Clark’s roommate called an ambulance and performed CPR. The ambulance arrived minutes later to take the student to Mercy Medical Center, but paramedics were unable to revive her.
According to the police report, Lydia Gale Clark was linked to excessive alcohol consumption, but an autopsy revealed abnormal heart tissue, which may have been another factor involved.
Brad Clark, Lydia’s father said he and his wife had talked to their daughter about drinking before her birthday.
“Her mom and I love her dearly and miss her dearly,” Lydia Gale Clark’s father said.
“When we first got the call in, for the first 24 hours, we just thought it was ignorance of what alcohol can do to you.”
Brad Clark said he had no doubt his daughter had too much to drink Friday night.
The Drake University student’s father said he was searching for the right words to warn her friends attending the memorial service in Kansas this Saturday about the dangers of alcohol.
Lydia Gale Clark’s abnormal heart tissue has now been sent to the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, for further testing.
