'You will never regret being cautious': Parents raise awareness after Watertown college student dies from peanut allergy

 

MILTON, Wis. (CBS 58) -- Students at a small college in Watertown are mourning this week after a tragic loss.

Nineteen-year-old Hannah Glass, a student at Maranatha Baptist University, died Sunday after a severe allergic reaction.

"She was a highly motivated, goal-driven person," said Hannah's father, David Glass.

Her parents describe her as smart and intentional.

"When she became an adult, she just blossomed," said her mother, Janean Glass.

Hannah learned she had a peanut allergy by three years old and had an Epi-Pen.

"Through her life, she could say she sensed when something had peanut butter in it," David said.

Last week, her parents got a terrifying call - Hannah had a severe reaction after eating a brownie from a friend.

"The difference was this wasn't peanut butter. It was peanut flour," her father explained.

Over the phone, Hannah told her parents had hives and was throwing up, but her throat didn't close.

She used an inhaler and took a Benadryl and started feeling better.

After her parents got to her dorm, nearly an hour after the reaction, Hannah went unconscious.

"Her right lung collapsed at that point," her father said. "Ultimately, the events of the next few days were a degression of that night."

While Hannah was in the hospital, her parents made a Facebook page to update family.

More than a thousand people began following her journey.

"Through this process, we adopted the mindset of do right, breathe, take small steps, keep moving forward," David explained.

After several days in the hospital, the doctors said Hannah had lost too much oxygen and wouldn't make it.

That's when her parents asked about organ donation.

"No parent should ever have to feel this way," her father said. "If we can save anybody else this depth of pain, at our expense, we must do it."

More than 300 people watched her honor walk Sunday, Nov. 17, to the donation room. Hannah's funeral was Wednesday.

Since making the donation, Hannah's primary organs have already saved four lives.

Her parents believe it's what she would have wanted.

"She was an amazing, amazing girl, and I'm thankful to see how many lives she has touched and will continue to touch," Janean said.

Now, her parents are calling on others to take allergies very seriously.

"You will never regret being cautious, but you may regret it being too late," her father said.