Amanda Clark, from Richmond, Virginia, US, is warning others to always carry EpiPens after collapsing and nearly dying from eating well-known fast food
A teacher claims a chicken nugget meal almost killed her – when an allergic reaction left her in a coma.
Amanda Clark happily tucked into a chicken nuggets and fries meal while out with a friend. But half an hour after finishing her meal the 30-year-old said she started to feel seriously unwell, erupting in hives and her tongue ballooned in size. She used her EpiPen to try to ease her symptoms but when she didn’t improve she drove to hospital where doctors gave her different types of medication, eventually putting her in a medically induced coma.
The secondary school teacher said: “I’m allergic to all fish. I was at a restaurant with a friend and neither of us had any seafood. I ate chicken nuggets and french fries – there was no fish in that. When we left the restaurant I started becoming ill and the only thing that we can think of was that something had been cross contaminated.
I started to feel unwell 30 minutes after, I got hives first then the swelling started. That’s how I knew it was my fish allergy because my tongue swelled up, it’s my only known allergy. I went to ER. They gave me three different kinds of EpiPen, one an inhaler, then they had to intubate. I had hives and swelling in the tongue and throat, that was when I was put in the coma. After that I have no memory, it was a very frightening experience.”
Amanda from Richmond, Virginia, US, spent 47 days in four different hospitals before she was discharged, believing her ordeal, which happend on Labour Day weekend, 2023, to be over. But months later in February 2024 she suffered a second horror reaction that stumped doctors and led to a hospital stay that ended months later on December 6th.
She said: “After I came out of hospital the first time I thought I was back on my feet. “I was driving home from school one day. I don’t know what happened, I just couldn’t breathe. My throat swelled up and I had hives all over. I gave myself an EpiPen in the car but it didn’t work. I was on the phone to 911 and they couldn’t understand me because I couldn’t talk because my tongue was so swollen.”
“They’d already sent EMS [Emergency Medical Services] to me, by the time I got to the house the ambulance was already there. At one of the rehabs I went to I ended up going into respiratory failure and had oxygen deprivation. I went to a different rehab and then ended up going into respiratory failure. A week later I was eating lunch when I suddenly forgot how to swallow, I was having a stroke. Doctors think it was caused by the oxygen deprivation.”
“My body went through such a trauma on that Labor Day weekend it might possibly have caused it, but I don’t know. I’ve been in hospital since then pretty much. I was paralysed on my right side from the arm down. I started getting some movement back in my legs but still nothing in my arms until August.”
While the majority of teachers are looking forward to the Christmas break, Amanda, who is a secondary school teacher, said she’d do anything to be back in the classroom. Amanda said: “It’s been so hard not being able to work, I miss it so much “I ask my teacher friends to send me videos of the classes so I can feel like I’m a part of it “Many are on the countdown to the Christmas holidays, I would do anything to be back at work.”
“I still have a long way to go recovery-wise and I still have a lot of strength to build, at least another year or two. I’ve had the ability to speak but I’ve had slurred speech. I’m still trached [have a tracheostomy] so I can have humidified air at night. I’m sharing my experience to show how far I’ve come.”
“I’ve been through so much in my life but nothing like this. I’ve come so close to death and by the grace of God I’ve been given a new life. It’s been tough but I’ve got a great support system. My advice to anyone with allergies is always carry an EpiPen and get medical help straight away.”