Her husband, Ollie Kinder, says the family believes her illness was linked to gummies containing ashwagandha, a herb commonly marketed in supplements for stress, sleep and general wellbeing.
What began as an everyday wellness routine ultimately ended with Lois fighting for her life in hospital.
Before her collapse, one of the first alarming signs was visible in her eyes.
They had begun turning yellow.
Lois had reportedly been taking two ashwagandha gummies each day after discovering the supplement through social media. She had used ashwagandha-containing products for an extended period before becoming ill.
Then, on July 13, her condition suddenly deteriorated.
Lois collapsed on the couch at home and was rushed to hospital.
Doctors diagnosed her with acute liver failure.
Her condition became so serious that she was placed in an induced coma and transferred to a specialist liver unit at Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham.
Her family then received devastating news.
Lois needed an emergency liver transplant.
But even the surgery that was supposed to save her life brought another crisis.
During the transplant procedure, Lois reportedly suffered three cardiac arrests. Although doctors were able to save her and the transplant was completed, the cardiac arrests deprived her brain of oxygen and resulted in significant neurological damage.
For Ollie and the couple’s children, Imogen and Jacob, the situation became almost unimaginable.
“The thought of losing my wife, and of our children, Imogen and Jacob, losing their mum at just 44 years old, was unbearable,” Ollie said.
He described watching someone he loved fight for survival as an experience no family could truly prepare for.
According to Ollie, doctors specifically asked whether Lois had been taking products containing ashwagandha while they investigated what could have caused the sudden liver failure.
He said doctors subsequently told the family they believed the supplement was responsible for her liver problems.
That distinction is important.
Ashwagandha has been associated with liver injury in medical literature, but the reaction appears to be very rare, and determining the exact cause of an individual case can be complicated.
The U.S. National Institutes of Health’s LiverTox database classifies ashwagandha as a likely cause of clinically apparent liver injury. Most reported cases have been mild to moderate and resolved after the supplement was discontinued, but severe and fatal cases have also been described.
Australia’s Therapeutic Goods Administration issued an updated warning in July 2026 saying cases of liver injury associated with ashwagandha products continue to be reported internationally.
The regulator described the overall risk as “very rare” but acknowledged that liver injury can be severe.
It cited at least four published international reports of liver failure associated with ashwagandha, including one case requiring a liver transplant. Researchers in India have also reported fatalities among patients with acute-on-chronic liver failure associated with single-ingredient ashwagandha preparations.
For Lois’s family, however, those statistics became frighteningly personal.
Her survival itself became uncertain.
Ollie said his family was repeatedly warned that Lois might not make it.
“The number of times we have been told we are going to lose her and then she just defies the odds,” he said.
At one point, according to her husband, doctors believed the damage to Lois’s brain was so extensive that they did not expect her to recover consciousness.
Then something happened that her family desperately hoped for.
She woke up.
Ollie said a retired neurological specialist was brought in as doctors tried to understand the discrepancy between what they were seeing clinically and what brain scans appeared to suggest.
But surviving the immediate crisis was only the beginning.
Lois has been left with significant brain damage and faces an uncertain rehabilitation journey. Her family does not yet know how much movement or independence she may eventually regain or what level of long-term care she will require.
Her husband says her medical team considers the case sufficiently unusual and complex that they intend to document it for medical literature.
For Ollie, sharing his wife’s story has another purpose.
He wants people to understand that “natural” does not necessarily mean risk-free.
“I want to spread awareness and warn people that even if you think the supplement you are taking is safe, there can still be serious health consequences,” he said.
Ashwagandha, scientifically known as Withania somnifera, has a long history of use in Ayurvedic medicine.
Today it is widely available in gummies, capsules, powders and other products, often promoted for stress, anxiety, sleep and energy.
Millions of consumers may encounter it as an ordinary wellness product rather than something they associate with serious adverse reactions.
However, regulators have increasingly drawn attention to reports of liver injury.
The Australian TGA advises people taking ashwagandha-containing supplements to stop using them and seek medical attention if they develop warning signs including yellowing of the skin or eyes, dark urine, nausea, vomiting, unusual tiredness, weakness, abdominal pain or loss of appetite. People who currently have or previously had liver problems are advised to avoid such products as a precaution.
The yellowing Lois reportedly experienced before her collapse is therefore particularly significant because jaundice can be a warning sign of liver dysfunction.
Medical research also suggests that ashwagandha-associated liver injury usually develops after weeks of exposure rather than necessarily appearing immediately. A 2026 review examining published cases found that jaundice was among the common presentations.
At the same time, experts caution against assuming that every supplement containing ashwagandha carries the same risk.
Commercial herbal products can differ significantly in their ingredients, concentration, preparation and quality. Multi-ingredient supplements can also make it difficult to determine which substance caused an adverse reaction.
LiverTox notes that contamination or mislabeling can complicate assessments of herbal supplements, although some products implicated in published cases have been tested and found to contain ashwagandha without other identified contaminants.
For Lois’s family, those scientific questions now exist alongside a much more immediate concern.
Her future.
“We don’t know if she will walk again, regain full use of her body, or what level of care she will need in the future,” Ollie said.
But after watching his wife repeatedly survive moments when doctors feared she wouldn’t, he isn’t giving up.
“What we do know is that Lois has already shown incredible strength, and we will continue to fight alongside her every step of the way.”
Lois’s case does not mean everyone taking ashwagandha will experience liver problems. Available evidence suggests serious liver injury is rare.
But her family’s experience highlights why supplements should not automatically be assumed harmless simply because they are herbal or available without a prescription.
And for anyone taking ashwagandha, symptoms such as yellow eyes or skin, dark urine, persistent nausea, unusual fatigue, abdominal pain or loss of appetite should not be ignored.
For Lois and her family, what began as an attempt to improve everyday wellbeing has instead become a fight over what her life will look like after surviving an extraordinary medical crisis.
