Young couple Craig McKinnon and Jess Prinsloo had the happiest day of their lives a few short weeks ago after getting engaged at a renowned beauty spot in South Africa.
But just four days later, 24-year-old Jess tragically died. She had an acute dairy allergy and it is thought she suffered a fatal reaction after using the wrong spoon to stir her tea, Mirror UK reports.
Her fiancé Craig arrived back in the UK with her ashes last week. He explained that the couple were a week into their dream South African trip when, on December 27, Craig popped the questions at the God’s Window viewpoint in Mpumalanga.
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He said: “Lots of her family live in South Africa and she hadn’t been back in six years, so I knew there was no better place to propose.
“My voice cracked as I got down on one knee and asked, ‘Will you marry me?’ She said, ‘Oh my God’ and started crying before she said yes. The look on her face… it meant everything.”
The couple spent the next few days celebrating with Champagne and “lots of laughter” before travelling to Jess’s mum’s house in Johannesburg on December 30. It was here that Jess came into contact with dairy.
Within seconds, she went into anaphylaxis – a potentially fatal reaction causing the throat to close up. She died in hospital the following day, on New Year’s Eve.
Marketing executive Jess always carried two EpiPens in case she suffered anaphylaxis but on this occasion, they failed her. Craig said: “When Jess died, a part of me died too – but there is no one to blame for her passing away. But, God, she’d had several near-misses.”
Craig, who works for AA insurance and is from Salisbury, Wilts, met Jess at university in 2019 and they moved in together after lockdown in 2021. On the day she fell ill, Craig said he was woken up by Jess’ brother, who said she was having a bad reaction.
“Jess was sitting on the toilet lid, really struggling to breathe," Craig said. "She had used an EpiPen, but it wasn’t having the effect it normally has.”
Jess was taken to hospital where doctors fought to save her but she passed away. Craig believes years of allergic reactions had a cumulative effect on Jess, who had been allergic to dairy since she was nine months old.
He recalled Jess telling him how she had to be resuscitated after eating milk in a curry when she was 18. "Another time, she ordered a vegan dessert which shouldn’t have had dairy and she needed antihistamines, an EpiPen and a hospital trip," he said.
"I haven’t eaten dairy for about three years because it just wasn’t worth the risk.”
Following Jess’ death, Craig faced medical bills of £3,700 plus £1,200 in coroner’s fees. His mum and Jess’s brother Darren, 20, launched a GoFundMe page to cover the bills and pay for her funeral in South Africa on January 6.
Craig is planning another send-off for Jess in the UK but also wants to educate people about allergies. He said: “It is something people cannot control and it can kill them.
“I just want people to listen and understand how serious this is.”
To find out more, visit the HSE website.
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