College student, 19, suffers fatal allergic reaction after being given brownie by friend

A college student from Wisconsin has suffered a fatal allergic reaction after being given a brownie.

Hannah Glass, 19, died after consuming a brownie. Credit: WISN 12 (YouTube)

Hannah Glass, 19, became severely ill after consuming a "gluten-free brownie" that sent her into anaphylactic shock, according to her family.

The teenager, who suffered from a severe peanut allergy, was given a brownie at Maranatha Baptist University by a women's group that contained roasted peanut flour.

Speaking to WISN12, her father, David Glass, recalled the moment he realized something was wrong with his daughter.

Hannah consumed a brownie containing roasted peanut flour. Credit: Photo by Brian T. Evans/Getty

"The second bite, she knew something was wrong," he recalled, noting that Hannah started breaking out in hives and vomiting. "We believe because this product contained roasted peanut flour, separate from oily peanut butter, that masked this."

The freshman contacted her family as soon as it happened, stating that this did not feel like any other previous reactions she'd suffered as a child.

The situation took a turn for the worse after Hannah took some Benadryl and laid down on her stomach leading her to experience shortness of breath, discomfort, a collapsed lung, and eventually, she lost consciousness altogether.

Her parents rushed down to the campus to help her, but even after administering her EpiPen, Hannah remained unresponsive.

The emergency services were called to the scene before they started administering life-saving aid to the teenager, but it seemed to be no use.

Taking to Facebook, the family released a lengthy statement detailing their heartbreaking ordeal.

"[The doctor] told us that she began having seizures between Watertown and Froedtert," the statement posted to Hannah's personal Facebook account read. "This was an indication that her brain was severely damaged.

"Without getting into every detail of the next five days, it is easy enough to say that we were informed that the situation was bleak, but due to her age and good health, she was definitely going to be given every available opportunity and option to save her life."

However, during that time, the family received some terrible news.

"The majority of her brain was unmistakably, seriously, critically, and without the life-sustaining measures in place, TERMINALLY damaged. There were no conversations about quality of life or anything like that. This was only life and death," the statement continued.

So the family made a difficult choice and stated - that despite losing their loved one - Hannah's story did have a silver lining.

"At this point, there was no actual decision to be made, except that we decided to donate her body to help others have the chance at life that she no longer had and to prevent other parents or loved ones from having to endure the torture that we had over the previous week," Hannah's loved ones said.

"We suffered here, but she was and will forever remain free and others have a chance to live! We are blessed," the post concluded.

Hannah's heartbroken parents took their daughter off life support on November 10 - five days after Hannah had initially consumed the brownie - and have used this tragedy to help prevent others from suffering the same fate.

In the wake of the incident, hundreds of family members, friends, and medical staff lined the hallways of Froedtert Hospital for an emotional 'Honor Walk' as Hannah was wheeled into surgery for her organs to be donated.

CBS58 reported that the 19-year-old's primary organs have since saved four lives.

It is estimated that 1 in every 3000 inpatients in US hospitals suffers from an anaphylactic reaction according to the JAMA Medical Network. Furthermore, the risk of death among those who suffer a reaction has been estimated to be about 1%, with as many as 500 to 1000 deaths annually.]

Our thoughts go out to Hannah's family and loved ones at this time.

Featured Image Credit: GMVozd/Getty