The mother of a woman who died from an allergic reaction after kissing her boyfriend is speaking out concerning allergy management.
Twenty-year-old Myriam Ducre Lemay was severely allergic to peanuts, but had never told her boyfriend. One night after a party in 2012, the couple went back to the boy’s house, where unbeknownst to Lemay, her boyfriend made himself a peanut butter sandwich. The couple then kissed goodbye, which proved to be fatal for Lemay.
After the kiss, Lemay started experiencing extreme shortness of breath. She reportedly used her asthma inhaler, but to no avail, so her boyfriend called 9-1-1.
The ambulance arrived 8 minutes after the call was made. However, Lemay suffered cardiopulmonary arrest in the ambulance, and eventually died from cerebral anoxia, a condition in which the brain is severely deprived of oxygen.
Notable in the episode is that Lemay did not carry an epipen on her. Epipen’s are a carry-on medical device used for emergency treatment of severe allergic reactions.
Though the coroners report on Lemay’s death came out in 2014, it is only this week the girl’s mother, Michieline Ducre, decided to speak about the incident. According to Daily Mail, Myriam’s mother, Micheline Ducre, told Journal De Quebec that days before her daughter’s death, her daughter had told her for the first time that she was in love.
“It’s the first time I saw my daughter with such bright eyes,” said Micheline Ducre.
“Sadly, she did not have the time to tell him she had a peanut allergy.”
Ducre added that her daugther normally carried her EpiPen on her. She cautions people with allergies to always carry a Medic Alert bracelet—a medical identification tag indicating the wearer has allergies—to avoid a recurrence of her daughter’s situation.
Dr. Christine McCusker, head of pediatric allergy and immunology at Montreal Children’s Hospital, reiterated Ducre’s point to CTV News, saying that allergens can remain in a person’s saliva after eating for up to four hours.
“This is why you have to carry your epipen, even though you don’t want to and even though it’s not cool,” McCusker told CTV News.
“You have to say, ‘Listen guys, I’ve got food allergies, I’ve got my Epipen, if there is a problem, help me.'”
