Global News has provided additional details regarding the Andrea Mariano tragedy. The teen, who was enjoying her second day of campus life as a psychology student at Queen’s University in Ontario Friday, perished as a result of an anaphylactic reaction.
Ms Mariano, who was allergic to both dairy and peanuts, consumed a smoothie that was cross-contaminated with one of her allergens. It is unclear whether the smoothie came from a campus outlet or the university dining hall, and which allergen was the cause.
Ms Mariano’s cousin, Hedellaine Valentin, said Andrea was meticulous about her allergies and took care in informing others about them. “She had ordered a smoothie. All her life she has been very particular about letting whoever it is that is preparing her food know,” Valentin said. “To say, ‘I have an allergy to peanuts, I am deathly allergic to peanuts and I have an allergy to dairy products.’ She knows that. She tells them.”
Ms Mariano was also meticulous about carrying epinephrine with her, but did not have her auto-injectors on-hand when the incident happened. “The doctors have said, even if she had both EpiPens with her, it was that severe, whatever it was that she had ingested… this was inevitable,” said Valentin. Unfortunately, we will never know if early administration of epinephrine would have saved Andrea.
In a statement, Queens University asserted that “The health and well-being of our students is of the utmost concern to us and we will review the many services we have in place to ensure they are consistent with best practices.”
For more background, see the Global News story here:
In light of this horrific tragedy, we urge you to take every opportunity to remind your teens – especially those in transition to new routines such as attending a new school or moving to campus housing – to always take 2 epinephrine auto-injectors along each and every time.
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