Search icon

Life

28th Jan 2023

Woman dies four days after proposal after using wrong spoon to stir tea

Callum Boyle

The bizarre incident happened while she was on holiday

A newly-engaged woman died four days after fiancé proposed to her because her tea was stirred with the wrong spoon.

Jess, 24, was on holiday with her new husband-to-be, Craig McKinnon in South Africa when the freak accident happened back in December.

Craig had popped the question on December 27 at God’s Window viewpoint in Mpumalanga before Jess sadly died four days later after stirring her tea with the wrong spoon.

It was revealed that Jess suffered from an acute dairy allergy and went on to suffer anaphylaxis.

As a result she suffered from a severe reaction which saw her throat close up before claiming her life.

Despite carrying two EpiPens in case any incident like this occurred, it wasn’t enough to save her.

woman dies

Her fiancé, Craig, paid an emotional tribute to her upon returning from South Africa. “When Jess died, a part of me died too – but there is no one to blame for her passing away,” he said.

“But, God, she’d had several near-misses.”

He speculated that Jess’ body has weakened as a result of the previous near misses and that was why despite having the EpiPens to hand, it wasn’t enough to save her.

The 24-year-old added that Jess was first diagnosed with the allergy when she was she was nine months old and recalled an incident where she had to be resuscitated after coming into contact while eating a curry when she was 18.

“Another time, she ordered a vegan dessert which shouldn’t have had dairy and she needed antihistamines, an EpiPen and a hospital trip,” Craig added.

“I haven’t eaten dairy for about three years because it just wasn’t worth the risk.”

Jess’ funeral took place on January 6 and Craig has explained that he is sharing her story to raise awareness about the severity of allergies.

“It is something people cannot control and it can kill them,” he said. “I just want people to listen and understand how serious this is.”

Related links:

Topics:

allergies,Life