'21 on 21' often fatal way to celebrate birthday

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Alberto took 21 shots to the gut. They hit his mother right in the heart.

Raquel Sears' son died after performing the increasingly common "21 on 21" ritual, downing that many shots on that significant birthday.

The day was supposed to be a celebration. It was April 7. After a barbecue with family, Alberto Lima Betancourt went out with friends to a bar.

Three days later, Raquel Sears, his mother, bent over his hospital bed and kissed him goodbye.

"I told him I loved him and that he was the best thing that ever happened to me," she said. "And then they took him away. They took his organs. I'll never see my son again."

The Independence, Mo., man died of alcohol poisoning, according to Sugar Creek, Mo.'s police chief, Herb Soule. Betancourt's blood-alcohol content tested 0.459.

"That's six times the legal limit," Soule said. "Before this happened, I didn't know about 21 shots on your 21st birthday. I know now. I'm not a crusader or a teetotaler, but parents need to be learning about it, too."

It's a trend that has swept colleges and bars across the country for several years. Young people out celebrating the milestone birthday are determined to down the same number of drinks as their age.

On YouTube, videos show birthday revelers tipping glass after glass to cheering friends. Birthday drinkers even create what are called "shot books," scrapbooks detailing the night of partying.

"They take photos of each drink, write the name of each drink," said Kenneth Sher, a curators' professor of psychological science at the University of Missouri who has studied extreme 21st-birthday drinking.

The goal is to drink as much as they can, Sher said.

"I think what happens is people know other people who've done it and think it's no big deal," he said. "I don't think people realize."

Betancourt — whom friends called Berto — lived with his parents and worked at Sears. He earned money to help support his 2-year-old son, Elijah, whom he had with girlfriend Miranda Mixon. At the family barbecue, "we gave him a card with $65 in it," Alberto's mother said.

Though she wanted him to stay home and spend the birthday with his family, Alberto didn't budge.

"Mom, I got things to do," he said, with that big smile of his. Then he was gone.

Mixon remembers Alberto dropping her, Elijah and her daughter off at home and going off with some friends.

"I told him to go have fun," she said.

Police say Alberto's first stop with those friends was a liquor store to pick up a fifth of whiskey. Then they headed to Stix & Stones Bar and Grill in Sugar Creek.

Kimberly Wiley, manager of Stix & Stones, noted there was an ongoing investigation and said she couldn't say anything at this point.

Police say, however, that Alberto became so intoxicated that friends took him outside and set him on the curb. They told police they thought the cool air — 47 degrees — would sober him up.

Alberto never went back in. His friends later found him unconscious outside and took him to a hospital.

Researchers at the University of Missouri have found that four out of five students they studied celebrated their milestone 21st birthday with drink.

According to the study released in 2008, 34 percent of the men and 24 percent of women consumed 21 drinks or more during their birthday celebrations.

Surprisingly, Sher said, people make preparations to try to "protect" themselves. They designate a driver, often have a plan to stay with friends and have someone lined up to watch over them so no one takes advantage. But those things don't stop the danger.

Some young people can die of alcohol poisoning. Others can vomit while they're passed out and choke to death. And still more can die of unintended injuries such as falling from a window or vehicle.

For Raquel Sears, thoughts turn to her grandson and how he lost his father.

"He will never look into Alberto's eyes again," she said.