An actor's family has been awarded $29.5 million after a pretzel left her with brain damage.
Per the Las Vegas Review-Journal, Chantel Giacalone had begged a friend to not "let me die" when she started having an allergic reaction to a peanut butter pretzel and was unable to breathe.
According to the outlet, the model and actor, who was only 27 at the time of the incident in 2013, isn't expected to live past the age of 55.
In the last eight years, Giacalone has been bedridden in the dining room of her parents' home. She requires feeding through a tube, needs round-the-clock care, has to be bathed by her mother and can only communicate with her eyes.
In February 2013, Giacalone was in Las Vegas for a convention when her friend Tara Retes – who wasn't aware how serious her allergy was – offered her a frozen yogurt with a topping of a small pretzel.
Giacalone ate a bit of the snack, unaware that it contained peanut butter. A while later, two of her friends realized it contained the allergen.
Naturally in a state of panic, the actor called her dad to tell him: "I’m having a hard time breathing."
Jack Giacalone, her father, told her to immediately find some Benadryl and seek medical help.
"I could hear it in her voice she was panicking," Mr. Giacalone, 70, told the jury. "I never heard from her after that."
The 27-year-old had gone into anaphylactic shock and she needed urgent medical attention – however, according to the lawsuit, the medical attention she received had failed her.
Christian Morris, the lawyer representing the family in the three-week civil lawsuit, stated that Giacalone's brain was left without oxygen due to MedicWest Ambulance staff not having IV epinephrine – an adrenaline treatment for severe allergic reactions. Instead, they administered intramuscular epinephrine.
The trial came to a close with a $29.5 million settlement despite MedicWest denying their paramedics did anything wrong.
Originally, the family sought more than $60 million in damages for medical expenses and the emotional toll the ordeal had taken on them.
