A late night kiss from her boyfriend turned out fatal for a Quebec woman who has severe peanut allergy.
Twenty-year-old Myriam Ducré-Lemay died in October 2012 because of complications caused by severe allergic reaction to peanuts. The tragic incident happened after she kissed her boyfriend, who just ate a peanut butter sandwich and who was at the time not aware of her food allergy.
The coroner's report, which was released in 2014, revealed that Myriam's new boyfriend did not know she has peanut allergy when he prepared and ate a peanut butter sandwich before bed. After the couple kissed each other goodnight, Myriam started to have trouble breathing.
Myriam, who went to a party earlier that night with her boyfriend, did not have with her her EpiPen, a medical device used to inject a measured dose of the medicine epinephrine used to treat life-threatening allergic reactions. She did not also have her Medic Alert bracelet, which could have been a lifesaver for her.
Myriam's boyfriend tried to use asthma pump but this did not work so he called and asked help from 911.
Although he tried to give Myriam CPR while waiting for the ambulance to arrive, his girlfriend did not make it. Emergency crew tried to resuscitate her using epinephrine but this also did not work.
Myriam suffered from cardiopulmonary arrest enroute to the hospital, which led to cerebral anorexia marked by oxygen deprivation to the brain.
It has been a while since the tragic incident happened but Micheline Ducré, Myriam's mother, shares her daughter's story now with the hope that this can help raise awareness on the importance of telling one's allergies to those around you and to stress out the importance of always carrying an EpiPen.
Christine McCusker, from Montreal Children's Hospital, reiterated the importance of telling people about food allergies and always carrying the medical device.
"You have to say, 'Listen guys, I have food allergies, I have my EpiPen, if there is a problem, help me,'" she said. "You always have to carry your EpiPen even though you don't want to, and even though it's not cool."
Peanut allergy is among the most common food allergies affecting about 0.6 percent of children in the U.S. Although 20 percent of these kids outgrow the allergy when they reach adulthood, many don't.
For sufferers, exposure to peanuts can cause severe and potentially deadly allergic reactions such as anaphylaxis, which can impair breathing.
