College student with severe peanut allergy dies after eating brownie, family says

A 19-year-old college student with a severe peanut allergy died after she took multiple bites of a brownie made with peanut flour, her family said.

Hannah Glass, a junior at Maranatha Baptist University in Watertown, Wisconsin, was taken off life support Nov. 10 following the allergic reaction five days prior.

In a series of posts on Facebook, her family detailed the final days of the 19-year-old’s life, which culminated in an “Honor Walk” at the hospital and her organs being donated.

The parents of Glass said their daughter became violently ill after eating a brownie she received from a friend on campus, WISN reported.

“The second bite, she knew something was wrong,” her father, David Glass, told the station. “We believe because this product contained roasted peanut flour, separate from oily peanut butter, that masked this.”

By the time she called her parents, she had already vomited and broken out in a rash, but she seemed to be otherwise OK, her family said on Facebook.

A family friend went to help the college student, who laid down on her stomach after taking Benadryl. That’s when, according to family members, things took a turn for the worse.

“Hannah rolled on her side, then immediately curled up into the fetal position and began complaining of extreme shortness of breath and discomfort,” family said. “She was told to get down and asked where her EpiPen was. She told the location of the pen, but while part way down the ladder she lost consciousness. The EpiPen was found and administered, and 911 called immediately.”

By the time her mother and others helped carry her out of the dorm, she had lost consciousness and was “completely unaware of the reality of the situation,” according to her parents.

The college student was taken to a hospital by an ambulance, and doctors told the family her heart stopped for several minutes along the way. Her condition required her to be transferred to another hospital, and she had seizures during an ambulance ride there before being put on a ventilator, family said.

Tests revealed Hannah Glass had severe brain swelling, leading to her “body shutting down completely.”

“The majority of her brain was unmistakably, seriously, critically, and without the life sustaining measures in place, TERMINALLY damaged,” her parents said. “There were no conversations of quality of life or anything like that. This was only life and death!”

Dozens of people gathered the hallways as hospital staff took the college student on an Honor Walk on Nov. 10, allowing friends and family to say their final goodbyes before she was taken into surgery for her organs to be donated.

As the oldest of four siblings, Hannah Glass wasn’t just a sister, but rather “the leader” and “a best friend,” according to an obituary.

Attending Maranatha Baptist University had long been her dream, with family describing “an unwavering desire” for her to attend the school beginning when she was 12.

“Whether it was because of the students she met, or the education she could get, or the closeness to home, the reason was never really clear, but it was always clear that she did not just want to go to college, she wanted to be here at Maranatha,” her dad said. “She was a girl who had a vision, set goals, and was highly motivated in reaching those goals.”

She had excelled at the university, campus officials said, noting her impact as an English education major.

“She was an exceptional student and a sweet-spirited servant in her church, with a heart for reaching souls with the gospel,” the university said in a news release.

Family said she chose the English education major because she hoped “to help anyone around the world to be able to understand the English language.”

Matt Davis, the CEO of the university, said the campus was “reeling from this unspeakable tragedy.”

“From a human standpoint, we grieve the loss of Hannah,” Davis said on Facebook. “It breaks our hearts to consider all the things that she will ‘miss’ in life.”

Maranatha Baptist University is about a 50-mile drive northwest from Milwaukee.

This story was originally published November 14, 2024 at 10:40 AM with the headline "College student with severe peanut allergy dies after eating brownie, family says."