Copywriter dies after tweeting about working 30 hours and energy drinks blamed

Mita Duran, 24, often tweeted about working extremely long hours

She considered getting home before midnight a small victory

She died after working more than a whole day without sleep - her coworkers blamed Thai Red Bull

A young woman literally worked herself to death shortly after bragging online about how long she had been in her office.

Mita Duran, 24, of Jakarta, Indonesia, died after tweeting ’30 hours of work and still going strooong,’ last Saturday night. Coworkers of her’s blamed energy drinks for her death.

It was one of many tweets Mr Duran sent out describing the long hours she worked as a copywriter for WPP-owned Young & Rubicam, an ad agency in the country’s capital.

Zafrul Sjahrial, the stepfather of Pradnya Paramita who died after a 30 hour shift, has defended the advertising industry saying Paramita knew what it took to succeed

Ms Duran was a hard-working, dedicated copywriter, so much so that she wrote on Tumblr about her exhausting workload.

'Tonight, I carry the keys to the office for the eighth day running,’ she lamented. ‘I’m still here. I have no life. Someone please take me out for drinks, kicks and giggles.’

The determined 24-year-old also made frequent posts to Twitter about her long hours.

‘Home before midnight after three long, exhausting weeks. MISSION ACCOMPLISHED,’ the overworked woman tweeted November 18.



A few days earlier she showed signs she was having trouble keeping up with the demands of her bosses.

Paramita, who went under the name Mita Diran on Twitter, frequently posted about her long hours online and collapsed while having dinner with friends just hours after this message

Paramita worked for advertising agency Young & Rubicam whose clients include Dell and Xerox

The copy writer slipped into a coma late on Saturday night and was pronounced dead on Sunday

Sjahrial said her tweets showed she was passionate about her job and was 'a girl ready for the next step'

‘Sweetest sleep I've had in a long time. It's a shame I'm supposed to wake up uh, ONE HOUR earlier. Slept through 3 phone calls and 3 alarms!’ She tweeted November 14.

That might have been a result of the long hours she worked the prior week.

‘Alright, one full week of going home past 2am from the office. Ladies and gentlemen, I believe we just broke a record,’ Ms Diran tweeted November 8.

She also pondered sleeping in the office.

‘The more you spend time at the office, the more you consider moving your bed here. Preferably next to the fan. #AgencyLife,’ Ms Diran tweeted October 29.

Sjahrial, an advertising creative director with 35 years' experience, said long hours were expected

Energy drink: A friend of Duran's later wrote ‘She died because too much of overtime working, and too much kratingdaeng attacks her heart.’ Krating Daeng is the name for Red Bull in Thailand, where the original version of the energy drink comes from



Sjahrial confirmed that he would not be pressing charges against the company saying that if people wanted somebody to blame, they should blame the entire industry

The copyrighter’s mother took to Path before her death to tell of her heartache - a posting noted by BuzzFeed.

‘Hi everyone, since last night and until now my daughter who is a copyrighter in Y&R lay in coma in RSPP,’ Yani Syahial wrote.

‘Chances not very good. She collapsed after continuous working overtime for 3 days last night,’ she continued. ‘Working over the limit. I have not slept since then.’

Ms Diran died within the hour.

‘An hour after this msg [sic]… her daughter died,’ Shalini wrote in a comment to the original post. ‘She died because too much of overtime working, and too much kratingdaeng attacks her heart.’

‘May she rest in peace.’

Stepfather also said reports of continuous 30-hour shift were 'overblown' saying there must have been breaks for food or opportunities to walk around the office

Kratingdaeng is Thai for Red Bull, where the original version of the energy drink comes from.

Ms Diran tweeted at least once about staying up all night working with help from the energy drink.

‘Spent half the night writing copy and finishing up a 23-page deck with a glass of vodka/red bull mix and now I can't sleep. SO BEAR WITH ME.

Y&R posted on its Facebook page about the death. After expressing condolences and wishing their dead employee’s family well, they announced the office would close this week in order to give employees time to grieve - for one day.

Shalini had one final plea.