A young woman is seriously ill in a Tokyo after having 'allergic reaction' to coffee.
Aika Doheny went to Japan on holiday but became badly ill a fortnight ago after having the harmless drink, it is understood.
She is a former Presentation Secondary School student at the National University of Ireland Galway and hopes to become a research assistant.
But the young woman, in her 20s from Kilkenny, County Kilkenny, had a severe response to the coffee and landed in Japanese hospital.
Several efforts were made to try and stave-off the allergic reaction to the drink using an epipen, but the results were limited and she was taken to a hospital in Tokyo.
The Irish Mirror reported the young woman has remained in an Intensive Care Unit for the past couple of weeks and efforts are now being made to bring her home from Japan by medical air ambulance.
But it is understood the costs of this are topping several hundred thousand euros (£174,000) and a fundraiser will be launched shortly to help finance the costs to repatriate her back to a Dublin-based hospital.
The Department of Foreign Affairs said it was well aware of the case.
A Department spokesperson added: “The Department of Foreign Affairs is aware of the case. As with all consular cases, the Department does not comment on the details of any specific case."
In another severe case about allergies, The Mirror reported how a woman was struck down by a rare condition which means she faints every time she stands up.
Lyndsi Johnson, 28, who previously worked as an aviation diesel mechanic in the Navy, now spends 23 hours in bed and cannot stand for longer than three minutes.
The 28-year-old lives with a condition known as Postural Tachycardia Syndrome (PoTS), which means that every time she stands up or sits, her heart rate speeds up, which Lyndsi also refers to as an allergy to gravity.
Her condition is so severe that she faints up to 10 times a day and can only get up to eat or shower.
She first started sdeveloping abdominal and back pain in October 2015, with her symptoms gradually worsening - prompting her to repeatedly visit the doctors, before being diagnosed in February 2022.
Now she is on medication, Lyndsi faints three times a day but still can’t do a lot for herself and has to rely on her husband, James, 30, who is her carer.
Lyndsi, from Bangor, Maine, US, said: "I’m allergic to gravity – it sounds crazy but it’s true. I can’t stand up for longer than three minutes without feeling faint, being sick, or passing out.
"I feel much better if I'm laying down. I’m in bed all day - for up to 23 hours a day. I never thought that at 28 I would have to use a shower chair.
