Tragedy when the 24-year-old bride-to-be dies in South Africa of a newspaper allergy four days after the proposal

A young woman has died just four days after getting engaged on a romantic holiday in South Africa after using the wrong spoon to stir her tea.

Jess Prinsloo, 24, is believed to have died as a result of her acute dairy allergy just days after her partner Craig McKinnon, also 24, proposed to her at God’s Window viewpoint in Mpumalanga on 27 April. December.

After saying yes, marketing executive Jess, from Salisbury, Wiltshire, celebrated with her fiance for several days before traveling to her mother’s home in Johannesburg on December 30.

But after coming into contact with dairy products, he suffered anaphylaxis, an allergic reaction in which the throat is closed, and died the next day at the hospital, the Mirror reports.

Ms Prinsloo, 24, was photographed crying with joy after the proposal on December 27, 2022.

Friends and family have paid tribute to a “beautiful and fun-loving” young woman who “lit up every room she walked into.”

In a heartbreaking social media post, Mr. McKinnon wrote: It’s hard to find clarity on today, the worst day of my life.

“But one point I’ve never been clearer on, the 3+ years I got with my Jess are irreplaceable, and I wouldn’t trade them for 60 years with anyone else on earth.

I am devastated and in pain like never before, but anyone who has spent time in her company knows what I mean when I say that I have been lucky enough to call her my fiancée. [for] the best three days of my life.

The couple met in college in 2019 and later moved in together in 2021.

Ms Prinsloo had many family members in South Africa but had not been back in six years, Mr McKinnon said, so she knew there was no better place to propose.

He told the Mirror: ‘The look on his face… meant everything.’

She was so excited about the proposal that she updated her followers on her social media accounts that same day, only to be inundated with messages from friends and family.

The next post on his Facebook page was to share the devastating news that he was in “critical condition” at the hospital.

Despite her care to carry two EpiPens with her at all times after several ‘near misses’, both failed Ms Prinsloo during her reaction.

Mr. McKinnon said: “When Jess died, a part of me died too, but there’s no one to blame for her passing.”

She described her brother, Darren, waking her up and telling her she was having a particularly bad reaction after the EpiPen “wasn’t having the effect it usually does.”

She was rushed to the hospital, but despite the best efforts of the doctors, they were unable to save her.

Ms Prinsloo had had an allergy since she was just nine months old and even had to be resuscitated after coming into contact with dairy in a curry at the age of 18.

The couple spent four happy days celebrating their engagement before tragedy struck.

Mr. McKinnon proposed to her at a famous beauty spot called God’s Window, in the country his fiancée hadn’t visited in six years.

The couple met in 2019 in college and later moved in together after the lockdown in 2021.

Mr McKinnon told the Mirror: “On another occasion, he ordered a vegan dessert that should have been dairy-free and required antihistamines, an EpiPen and a trip to hospital. I haven’t eaten dairy for about three years because it just wasn’t worth the risk.

After her death, he was charged £3,700 in medical bills and a further £1,200 in coroner’s fees.

The family of Mr. McKinnon and Mrs. Prinsloo set up a GoFundMe to cover the cost of medical and funeral bills.

A statement on the page read: ‘Our beautiful and fun Jess recently passed away on 12/31/2022.

‘Jess was an impeccable daughter, sister, niece, friend and most recently, fiancée. She lit up every room she entered and touched the lives of everyone she met.

‘If you’ve ever met Jess, you’ll probably know her fun fact about herself, she’s allergic to milk.

“While on the vacation of a lifetime in South Africa, she experienced an allergic reaction. While in the hospital, Jess did her best to cope and passed away peacefully that night.

‘All the years we had Jess will get us through the years we won’t have.’

Mr McKinnon returned to the UK with his ashes on Monday.