How 1 Sniff Tragically Killed an 11-Year-Old

Before she can fully realize what’s happening, a grandmother’s fish being cooked on the stove leads to her 11-year old grandson to collapse. The boy was seemingly affected by the delicious smell of the frying fish.

What do you do when just the scent of something can send you into a death spiral? How do you even begin to navigate the world when just a single bite of your favourite meal could kill you? Let’s get into it!

Sources:

[Cameron Jean-Pierre | The boy who died of an allergic reaction from smelling fish]

[What are Allergies]

[Developing Allergies Later in Life: Adult Onset Allergies]

[Allergy Treatment]

[Food Allergies]

[Epinephrine and Cost of Having Allergies]

[Food Allergies & Sociological Effect]

Other Sources:

[Brew’s intro song]
Manhattan Twist by Avocado Junkie

[Music Licensing]
Code: KKZ6VFJD938HYDA1, URA0ZXVPTW3XMRCE, PZP9BMPIDGOVQVRQ, BAJEIJSZ9DTJ3GF3, GVFQHDHIJ5XOOLP7, Y44VVAXDNAAENQKP, PIYEFJJHZ6274UIY, 7RIN2CEQDXXPSHXL, GUJRXEQJM9ZPNMOJ, PZJOM8HCQIJHKZGU, SAMSH2ZONLEPII6I

[Brew]

Thanks to Skillshare for sponsoring this episode!

[bradbrad]

Me and my Brother are also highly allergic to fish protean ( my parents knew we had the allergy) as well but my parents absolutely loved fish, especially the worst one for us salmon. I can remember itching, coughing and having a very hard time breathing every time they cooked it but they always assumed because we would not end up eating it we where just making it up because of the bad smell. Flash forward 10 or so years I see this news article about this same boy and instantly sent it my dad as proof that My brother and I where in fact suffering.

[becca]

That’s crazy how that woman’s cat was actually pawing at her throat while it was closing. It’s like the cat knew what was happening before she did

[mirakzul]

$300- $600 in the US is criminal for EpiPens. Here in Australia, two EpiPens costs roughly $38.

[LLTM]

The scariest thing about allergies is that they can develop or worsen at any time. In their early 20s, my parents used to eat fish every Saturday night, until one Saturday my dad took a single bite and went anaphylactic.

[blazeitbigbb]

I never realized I was allergic to avocados until highschool. Was eating guacamole at a restaurant with friends and said something along the lines of “i love avocados because of the way they make your tongue tingle” and my friends made me aware of the fact that avocados are indeed not supposed to do that. Went home and told my mom and found out she also has an avocado allergy!

[TheRealGuywithoutaMustache]

This story is just extremely tragic man, this is eye opening as to how serious some allergies can be

[PoppycockPrincess]

I'm really glad Brew covered how ridiculously overpriced epipens have become in the U.S. It is truly unfair.

[anaamore]

I can't believe it's legal to charge people 600 dollars for a life saving item. This world is absolutely insane.

[ghosttimm]

Cat was trying to wake her up. Aren’t animals amazing? A few years ago a friend of mine, his son died from an opioid overdose but, before he passed away their dog jumped on his dads bed and woke him up. His dog KNEW something was wrong. Don’t take your animals for granted!

[Serenity_Dee]

Fun fact: you can be allergic to tree nuts without being allergic to peanuts (which are legumes, not true nuts) and vice versa, but because they're pretty much always processed in the same facilities, you pretty much have to treat yourself as allergic to all of them. That's why you see WARNING: CONTAINS NUTS on containers of peanuts.

[DaBoaringDragon]

Biology is scary. Our bodies are both tough yet extremely fragile. Sometimes it seems like they want to literally self destruct.

[ShibaInu]

This is so sad… I feel so bad for the dad. Imagine how awful the grandma must feel after finding out what caused his death. The last words will forever be in the dads mind. I hope they’re able to heal, and know that their son is in a place of no pain now. 😢❤️

[DarkLadyPhoenix]

That whole family... imagine the forever guilt. For the father, "If I had just left my son in the car while I went back in to grab the thing." For the grandmother, "If only I cooked it in the oven." I imagine the who family has a difficult time eating fish from then on because of the related memory.

[Fangirled]

This story broke my heart into a million pieces. I started crying when he said “feels like I’m dying”. Cant imagine the pain the family went through

[lane]

My wife has this same reaction to shellfish being cooked. She is so allergic that when the employees of the crab shack in town would come into her store after work, she would break out in a rash and get an itchy throat. She loved crab as a kid, but then suddenly had a reaction when they went out one night.

[adonian]

Okay BREW, really, you had to make me cry... I have a 5 year old who is allergic to eggs, and peanut butter among other things, I'm a nurse, I know CPR etc, but I could NEVER imagine the pain that man is going through. having your kid say to you I think I'm dying, and daddy I love you, and he goes unconscious... 😢😭

[Jakey]

I'm doing a pharmacy class, yesterday we had a real time lesson of poor health literacy. A girl was helping prepare a shellfish/seafood feast for a public holiday and knew she was allergic to shellfish but only thought that applied if she ate it, she came into our class to ask why she was getting an itchy rash up her arm after helping out, my tutor explained everything to her and gave her some fexofenadine as she was only having a mild reaction, and made sure the other tutor kept an eye on her as allergic reactions can go from annoying rash/itch to throat closing so fast. The worst irony is our EpiPens are medicine-free replicas for learning, if she did require one it wouldn't've been good.

[TheMouseAvenger]

OMG, this story is so sad! 😭 Hearing Cameron's dad crying about his son's passing in the video broke my heart... 💔 And just imagine how his poor grandma must feel! :-(

[kaiapparent]

how heartbreaking for the father and family of that young boy. he had the rest of his life ahead of him and it was taken away in a single moment. may he rest in peace