A Michigan university has confirmed the death of a 19-year-old student who had been in a coma for a week following a severe allergic reaction to peanut butter.
Oakland University sophomore Chandler Swink had been in St. Joseph Mercy Oakland Hospital since Nov. 18 and died there Wednesday after being taken off life support, university officials said.
Swink had apparently come into contact with peanut butter while at a friend's house, after which he drove himself to the hospital where staff found him unconscious in a parking lot.
Doctors said Swink's death was the result of simultaneous anaphylactic shock, an asthma attack and cardiac arrest.
Swink was attending Oakland University on a 4-year, full-tuition scholarship studying to be a nurse.
"Chandler Swink's death is a tragic loss for our university," Glenn McIntosh, OU interim vice president for student affairs, said in a release. "He was a scholarship student with a passion for learning and had a very bright future. We offer our condolences and stand by to support his family, friends and his girlfriend."
Swink, who had a level six nut allergy -- the most severe level -- since the age of two, was at the house of a friend where a batch of peanut butter cookies were prepared. It was unknown how he might have come into contact with either cookies or perhaps some peanut residue.
He had injected himself with an EpiPen before driving himself to the hospital where doctors determined he had just a 2 percent chance of survival.
His family has spoken out about the dangers of nut allergies.
"You need to take your family members' food allergies very seriously," said his father Bill Swink.
Classmates and longtime friends said Swink was careful to avoid exposing himself to peanuts.
"Even in high school, he was always very cautious, checking packages and reading labels [to check for nuts]," longtime friend Kaitlyn Martin told the Oakland University newspaper.
Almost $30,000 has been pledged in an online GoFundMe fund-raiser started by Swink family friend Mitch Yencha to help the family cope with the medical expenses of Chandler Swink's treatment at the hospital.
"It's too much for one family to handle," Yencha said. "I can't take away the emotional pain, but maybe financially, I can help."
Peanut allergy is one of the most common causes of food-related death, according to the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America.
Those with peanut allergy are at risk of a hypersensitivity reaction to dietary substances in peanuts that can trigger an overreaction of the body's immune system.
