Urgent Warning from Woman Placed in Coma After Eating Chicken Nuggets [Trigger Warning]

30-year-old Amanda Clark — a teacher from Richmond, Virginia, with a severe fish allergy — was dining out with a friend on Labor Day weekend in 2023, enjoying her chicken nuggets.

About 30 minutes later, the trouble started. She began to feel ill, erupting in hives and a severe swelling in her tongue.

She administered her epinephrine auto-injector, but when her symptoms failed to ease, she drove herself to the hospital, where her symptoms were so severe, doctors decided to place her in a medically induced coma.

Clark relates up her story:

I’m allergic to all fish. I was at a restaurant with a friend and neither of us had any seafood. I ate chicken nuggets and french fries – there was no fish in that. When we left the restaurant I started becoming ill and the only thing that we can think of was that something had been cross-contaminated.

I started to feel unwell 30 minutes after, I got hives first then the swelling started. That’s how I knew it was my fish allergy because my tongue swelled up, it’s my only known allergy. I went to ER. They gave me three different kinds of EpiPen, one an inhaler, then they had to intubate. I had hives and swelling in the tongue and throat, that was when I was put in the coma. After that I have no memory, it was a very frightening experience.

She spent the next 47 days in four different hospitals before she was discharged. But months later, she suffered another horrific reaction in February 2024 that led to her hospitalization for the majority of the year, being discharged on December 6.

She said:

After I came out of hospital the first time, I thought I was back on my feet.

I was driving home from school one day. I don’t know what happened, I just couldn’t breathe. My throat swelled up and I had hives all over. I gave myself an EpiPen in the car but it didn’t work. I was on the phone to 911 and they couldn’t understand me because I couldn’t talk because my tongue was so swollen.

They’d already sent EMS to me, by the time I got to the house the ambulance was already there. At one of the rehabs I went to I ended up going into respiratory failure and had oxygen deprivation. I went to a different rehab and then ended up going into respiratory failure. A week later I was eating lunch when I suddenly forgot how to swallow, I was having a stroke. Doctors think it was caused by the oxygen deprivation.

My body went through such a trauma on that Labor Day weekend it might possibly have caused it, but I don’t know. I’ve been in hospital since then pretty much. I was paralysed on my right side from the arm down. I started getting some movement back in my legs but still nothing in my arms until August.

Amanda said she’d do anything to be back in the classroom:

It’s been so hard not being able to work, I miss it so much.

I ask my teacher friends to send me videos of the classes so I can feel like I’m a part of it Many are on the countdown to the Christmas holidays, I would do anything to be back at work.

I still have a long way to go recovery-wise and I still have a lot of strength to build, at least another year or two. I’ve had the ability to speak but I’ve had slurred speech. I’m still trached [have a tracheostomy] so I can have humidified air at night. I’m sharing my experience to show how far I’ve come.

I’ve been through so much in my life but nothing like this. I’ve come so close to death and by the grace of God I’ve been given a new life. It’s been tough but I’ve got a great support system. My advice to anyone with allergies is always carry an EpiPen and get medical help straight away.

We are so sorry for the misery Ms. Clark has suffered and we hope this new year brings her a speedy and complete recovery.

As we generally do when reporting such incidents, we look to provide strategies that others in the food allergy community should employ to avoid similar tragedies.

We wholeheartedly agree with Ms Clark’s advice to carry epinephrine, but we advise those who have been prescribed the drug to always take two emergency epinephrine devices along everywhere, every time, and to administer the first dose when they first suspect anaphylaxis. If symptoms do not resolve within 5 to 15 minutes, the second dose should be administered while awaiting the arrival of emergency services.

Epinephrine is the only drug that can halt and reverse the progression of anaphylaxis, but it must be administered quickly after the onset of symptoms and in a sufficiently large dose to provide the best outcome. Hence, two devices should always be carried in case the first dose is insufficient.

Although we can’t know for sure, if Ms Clark had had access to a second dose, her symptoms may have subsided before they reached a critical stage.

Driving to the hospital in the throes of anaphylaxis is dangerous as there is always the possibility of losing consciousness. Wait for emergency services to arrive or have someone drive you to the ER.

Lastly, when you visit an eatery, discuss your food allergies with the waiter and kitchen staff to determine how your food will be prepared, and leave if you do not feel your allergies can be safely accommodated.

Fried foods like chicken nuggets are especially problematic when a single fryer is used for multiple foods. If fish filets had been cooked in the same fryer with Ms Clark’s chicken nuggets, it could explain the cross-contact that led to her reaction. Likewise, any number of other allergens may contaminate a shared fryer, so be aware.