MONTREAL (May 12) - The infamous peanut butter kiss originally thought to have killed a Quebec girl had nothing to do with her death, a coroner revealed Thursday.
Christina Desforges died from an asthma attack after "physical exertion" with her boyfriend, not from an allergic reaction to a peanut butter-laced kiss, said coroner Michel Miron.
The 15-year-old girl stopped breathing in the early morning hours of Nov. 20, 2005, after kissing her boyfriend. He had eaten two pieces of toast with peanut butter about nine hours earlier.
The initial suspicion that lingering peanut allergens triggered an allergic reaction was wrong, Miron said. Instead, he blamed a sudden, severe asthma attack following physical activity with her boyfriend.
"Nine hours passed between the time when the young man ate his two toasts and 3 a.m. when he kissed Christina," Miron said in announcing his findings.
"A recent study shows at the end of an hour, there is no allergen left in the saliva. It's not very probable that peanut butter is implicated. Nine hours later, I don't believe it and studies show the same thing."
The girl had spent hours at a party with smokers at a home in Saguenay, Que., when her breathing problems began. She also had smoked pot in the previous hours, Miron added, another factor that can cause problems for asthma sufferers.
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Around 3 a.m., Desforges told her boyfriend she was having trouble breathing. She went in the basement to get her inhaler and had trouble getting down the stairs, waking a second teenage boy with her wheezing and stumbling.
"They helped Christina go up the stairs and they decided to go outside," Miron said in Saguenay, about 250 kilometres north of Quebec City.
"She collapsed and stopped breathing. The 911 recording is not funny to hear. You can imagine, two young boys 15 years old dealing with a young girl in front of them, not breathing."
The boys tried to resuscitate Desforges and she was taken to hospital, but the coroner estimates her brain was deprived of oxygen for 25 to 30 minutes. She was taken off life support nine days later.
Desforges was allergic to nuts and peas among other foods and had suffered reactions as a young child to cashews and meatball stew.
The girl also suffered asthma from a young age, carrying an inhaler to deal with respiratory problems that popped up occasionally.
In August 2005, Desforges went to a local emergency room to deal with a severe asthma attack after spending the day in a house with two cats, a dog and smokers.
Asthma kills about 500 Canadians every year, according to the Asthma Society of Canada.
About three million Canadians suffer from the disease, a chronic inflammation of the airways that may be triggered by an over-sensitive immune system.
Christina Desforges died from an asthma attack after "physical exertion" with her boyfriend, not from an allergic reaction to a peanut butter-laced kiss, said coroner Michel Miron.
The 15-year-old girl stopped breathing in the early morning hours of Nov. 20, 2005, after kissing her boyfriend. He had eaten two pieces of toast with peanut butter about nine hours earlier.
The initial suspicion that lingering peanut allergens triggered an allergic reaction was wrong, Miron said. Instead, he blamed a sudden, severe asthma attack following physical activity with her boyfriend.
"Nine hours passed between the time when the young man ate his two toasts and 3 a.m. when he kissed Christina," Miron said in announcing his findings.
"A recent study shows at the end of an hour, there is no allergen left in the saliva. It's not very probable that peanut butter is implicated. Nine hours later, I don't believe it and studies show the same thing."
The girl had spent hours at a party with smokers at a home in Saguenay, Que., when her breathing problems began. She also had smoked pot in the previous hours, Miron added, another factor that can cause problems for asthma sufferers.
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"They helped Christina go up the stairs and they decided to go outside," Miron said in Saguenay, about 250 kilometres north of Quebec City.
"She collapsed and stopped breathing. The 911 recording is not funny to hear. You can imagine, two young boys 15 years old dealing with a young girl in front of them, not breathing."
The boys tried to resuscitate Desforges and she was taken to hospital, but the coroner estimates her brain was deprived of oxygen for 25 to 30 minutes. She was taken off life support nine days later.
Desforges was allergic to nuts and peas among other foods and had suffered reactions as a young child to cashews and meatball stew.
The girl also suffered asthma from a young age, carrying an inhaler to deal with respiratory problems that popped up occasionally.
In August 2005, Desforges went to a local emergency room to deal with a severe asthma attack after spending the day in a house with two cats, a dog and smokers.
Asthma kills about 500 Canadians every year, according to the Asthma Society of Canada.
About three million Canadians suffer from the disease, a chronic inflammation of the airways that may be triggered by an over-sensitive immune system.