Number 7 Lauren Stacey
In August of 2019, Lauren Stacey, from Swansea, South Wales, was on a girl’s holiday to Barbados
when she suffered a severe allergic reaction to an increase in body temperature. While
exposing herself to the sun, Stacey applied SPF 50 lotion to most of her body but missed a spot
on her forehead. Stacey got what she believed was a normal sunburn but woke up the following
morning with a severely ballooned face. She was barely able to see out of her left eye while
her right one was completely shut. The woman had suffered an allergic reaction called cholinergic
urticaria, commonly known as heat bumps, brought on by the difference in temperature
her body had experienced. Even though she felt that the reaction had left her looking “like
a monster”, Stacey, then in her mid-20s, was determined to enjoy the rest of her time on the
Caribbean island. She wore sunglasses and a hat when going out with her friends but the drastic
change to her appearance was reaffirmed when she went to the airport for her return flight.
A digital face scanner failed to recognize her features because of the swelling but
airport security let her through after asking if she was alright. Eventually,
after a course of steroids and antihistamines, the swelling reduced and Stacey’s face fully
recovered. She shared her story as a cautionary tale for others to properly apply sunscreen.
Number 6 Daniella Bolton In December of 2021, Scottish
woman Daniella Bolton, from Edinburgh, was left with lips swollen up to 20 times their regular
size after a cosmetic mishap. 24-year-old Bolton went to have her lip filler dissolved to make way
for fresh injections. However, she experienced an allergic reaction to the dissolving solution and,
after she left the appointment, her lips began to swell by the minute. They’d completely ballooned
by the time she got home and her breathing also became labored. Bolton, who documented the process
through photos and videos, went to the doctor. She was treated with steroid tablets and, about four
hours later, the swelling began to subside. Bolton shared her experience with a media outlet to raise
awareness of the severe reactions that can follow the procedure even if those seeking it get a patch
test beforehand, like she had. Number 5 Estelle
In 2018, a report began circulating online of a French woman, only identified as Estelle,
who’d suffered a horrific reaction to hair dye that nearly ended her life. Speaking to
Le Parisien, the 19-year-old attributed it to a chemical called paraphenylenediamine, or PPD,
often found in dark-colored makeup and dyes. Her scalp became irritated almost immediately after
application. She took an antihistamine but the following morning her head had swollen by nearly
4 inches in circumference and into an unusual shape. Estelle would later tell a media outlet
“I could not breathe. I had a light bulb head”. Her breathing difficulties stemmed from her tongue
becoming enlarged as well. The young woman went to the emergency room where she was given a
shot of adrenaline and kept under observation overnight. The swelling eventually went down
and she recovered. After narrowly avoiding death, Estelle warned others about the dangers of PPD.
According to the Journal of Research in Medical Sciences, the chemical’s potentially
fatal complications can include renal failure, respiratory distress and rhabdomyolysis,
which is a breakdown of muscle tissue. Number 4 Chantel Giacalone
In 2013, model and actress Chantel Giacalone, aged 27, was at a convention in Las Vegas. A
friend handed her a pretzel which, unbeknownst to the model, was infused with peanut butter.
Giacalone, who suffered from a life-threatening peanut allergy, went into anaphylactic shock and
desperately sought help with MedicWest Ambulance, the staff of which was working the medical
stations at the Mandalay Bay South Convention Center. As detailed in a subsequent civil lawsuit,
neither of the two medics had IV epinephrine, as required by the Southern Nevada Health District.
They did have intramuscular epinephrine but delayed administering it. They believed the
agitated Giacalone was suffering from an altered mental state, in spite of her clearly telling them
that she had a peanut allergy and that her EpiPen hadn’t given her any relief.
Instead of administering the urgent treatment, they checked her blood glucose levels,
thus wasting precious minutes in which Giacalone’s brain was deprived of oxygen. Only after the model
had become unconscious and stopped breathing did the staff administer a double-dose of epinephrine.
By then, however, it was too late. Since her circulatory system was no longer working properly,
her body was unable to pull the medicine from the muscle and into the bloodstream. She was
ultimately revived but her brain, after being deprived of oxygen for a critical period of time,
was left irreversibly damaged. Giacalone became a quadriplegic
and could only communicate with her eyes, relying on her family for round-the-clock care. In 2021,
eight years after the incident, a jury in the civil lawsuit initiated by her parents
agreed that the Nevada ambulance company had been negligent when treating her. Giacalone’s family
was awarded $29.5 million, a portion of which they stated an intention of donating to organizations
benefitting people with brain injuries. They also intended to buy a new home that would
facilitate caring for the woman who, because of her condition, wasn’t expected to live beyond 55.
Number 3 Karen Brammer Talking to the Daily Mail, in 2014,
a woman recounted how she’d been on the verge of death an estimated 80 times throughout her life,
because of her numerous allergies. 40-year-old Karen Brammer had gone into anaphylactic shock
dozens of times in the past and revealed that even a trip to the shop could kill her. She had 23
identified allergies, including one to latex which prevented her from achieving her dream of becoming
a nurse. In light of the latter aspect, Brammer built up a gardening business which she eventually
lost due to her allergy to wasp stings. In one incident, she recounted feeling like a spike had
been driven through her chest in the aftermath of a sting. Her EpiPen saved her life but, because of
her multiple conditions, she required over four months to recover from the sting. In her teens,
Brammer found that she had an autoimmune disorder that caused her body to attack certain organs.
Over time she developed more allergies and went into anaphylactic shock more quickly. Treating her
various conditions was also extremely difficult as she was allergic to 16 different medications,
including tramadol, ibuprofen and penicillin. Brammer also told the media outlet that she had
to plan each day around her allergies and, at any given time, carried a medical kit with EpiPens,
inhalers, antihistamines as well as a list of her allergies and emergency contacts.
Determined not to let her chronic health problems deter her from living a full life,
in 2014, Brammer undertook a fundraising bike ride to raise money for the Anaphylaxis Campaign.
Today's topic was requested by Jonathon Quilles, Oliver Mortimer, Ben Webber and
Karen Kehoe. If you have any other topics you'd like to learn about, subscribe & let us know in
the comments section below. Number 2 Owen Carey
On April the 22nd of 2017, an English teenager collapsed in his girlfriend’s arms,
in front of the London Eye, after going into anaphylactic shock. 18-year-old Owen Carey and
his girlfriend had gone to a Byron restaurant, at the O2 in North Greenwich. Carey had grilled
chicken which he didn’t know had been coated in buttermilk, as the teen was extremely allergic to
dairy products. He felt it tasted odd, as his lips had begun tingling, and only ate half of his meal.
An inquest would later determine that the menu at the restaurant listed the 14 common allergens but
made no mention of buttermilk. Still, it allegedly met industry standards at the time by instructing
customers to inform staff about any allergies. Carey had reportedly done so but wasn’t told
about the buttermilk. Roughly 55 minutes after the meal, Carey collapsed and was unable to breathe as
his airways had shut off. A passing paramedic and two ambulance crews battled to save his life but,
at 4.30 pm that same day, he passed away at St Thomas's Hospital. As of May, 2021, his family
only received an apology letter from Byron’s but was awarded no damages. Since the incident, they’d
begun campaigning for “Owen’s Law”, requesting specific allergen labeling on every menu but had
yet to receive an answer from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.
Number 1 Robyn Cherry In 2020, a British woman revealed
that she was still suffering from the effects of an allergic reaction, nearly a decade after
it had first manifested itself. Robyn Cherry, from Cheltenham in Gloucestershire, England,
had saved up to get her hair dyed professionally and made an appointment with a local hairdresser,
back in October of 2010. She was given a patch test, waited for 24 hours and,
once she was seemingly cleared of any risks, went to her appointment. Cherry, then in her early 20s,
started to experience a burning sensation in her scalp within minutes of leaving the salon,
but decided to ignore it. The following day, she woke up to find that her head had ballooned
to nearly twice its normal size. Cherry’s mother rushed her to the A&E at Cheltenham General
Hospital and would later reveal that the swelling persisted on the drive to the medical facility.
By the time they arrived, the young woman’s airways had shut and she could no longer breathe.
She couldn’t see because her eyes had puffed up while her hair was coming out in clumps as her
scalp kept blistering. Cherry’s breathing stabilized within 16 hours, after she’d been
given adrenaline injections and steroids. Doctors would tell her she’d suffered the worst allergic
reaction they’d ever seen and that she’d been roughly an hour from dying. Less than a day after
returning home, Cherry’s airways shut again and she was taken to the hospital. The woman’s life
was saved once more but a chemical in the dye had left her body in a constant state of shock which
caused her to develop a wide range of further allergies. These included most foods, spices,
nuts, alcohol and clothing. In May 2011, she was diagnosed with polymorphic light eruption and
solar urticarial, a rare condition meaning she became extremely sensitive to sunlight. Describing
the “living hell” that her life had become, Cherry reported “I couldn't eat at restaurants,
wear nice clothes or go out for drinks with my friends anymore.” She was forced to give
up her horse riding company, battled severe depression and became a recluse for several years.
The woman would be on strong antihistamines and steroids for the rest of her life.
Cherry revealed that, had she waited 48 hours, instead of 24, for the patch test, the risks of an
allergic reaction would’ve likely been revealed. Thanks for watching! Would you rather develop
a potentially fatal reaction to all of your top five favorite foods OR only be
able to listen to every song once? Let us know in the comments section below!