Fitness fanatic, 27, dies after drinking on empty stomach
A 27-YEAR- OLD fitness fanatic died after drinking too much alcohol on an empty stomach.
Friends of Alice Burton-Bradford said she developed alcoholic ketoacidosis – a rare metabolic complication – and passed away in her garden.
Miss Burton- Bradford, who worked at sports clothing retailer sweaty Betty in Brighton, was a keen cyclist and runner who exercised daily. An inquest into her death is due to be held.
Friend of eight years Aaron Mulvay, 30, said: ‘It was absolutely a horrible shock. I had never even heard of alcoholic ketoacidosis until she died.
‘We’re not sure how much she had been drinking that weekend, but she was not an alcoholic. she had not eaten enough and it had triggered an acid in her stomach.
‘It was just so sudden – she didn’t even have to go to hospital, but had gone out into her garden and passed away there.’
Mr Mulvay said he met Miss Burton-Bradford, originally from Cornwall, when they both worked at the same bar some years ago.
He described her as a fun-loving character, who enjoyed nature and walking her pet lurcher, Nesse, on the beach. she was a member of several running clubs and also a regular at the Preston Park park run in Brighton every saturday.
‘Alice loved going out but she was also such a health freak,’ Mr Mulvay said. ‘During lockdown she was always taking her dog out for walks to the beach and running every day.’
Miss Burton-Bradford died on June 1 and Mr Mulvay said the pandemic had made it impossible for friends to go to her funeral, so they had set up a crowd-funding campaign to buy a bench in the town in her memory instead.
He added: ‘There needs to be more information out there about the dangers of drinking when you have not eaten properly.’
Alcoholic ketoacidosis is usually caused by drinking excessive amounts of alcohol.
It occurs when the body stops producing insulin and begins to burn fat, instead of glucose, for energy. This produces ketone bodies which build up in the blood stream as acid, causing ketoacidosis.
It can cause abdominal pain, nausea and vomiting and, in extreme cases, coma and death.
‘Didn’t even make it to hospital’