When Hannah Glass decided to eat a homemade brownie, she had no idea that days later her parents would be picking up her cremated remains. The college student had always been careful about her peanut allergy, but something hidden in the sweet treat killed her after only two bites.
Glass had turned 19 just two days earlier.
A community in Wisconsin is mourning the heartbreaking loss of Hannah Glass, a bright and compassionate freshman at Maranatha Baptist University who tragically died after an unexpected allergic reaction to a brownie.
On November 5, the young woman — who had celebrated her 19th birthday two days before — suffered a violent reaction to a brownie given to her by a friend. Hannah had a known peanut allergy and was typically cautious, but she didn’t know the dessert reportedly contained roasted peanut flour, an ingredient sometimes used as a gluten‑free substitute.
“The second bite, she knew something was wrong,” Hannah’s father, David Glass, told WISN. He explained that the brownie came from a women’s group on campus and, while it was made with peanut flour to accommodate gluten‑free students, it did not account for those with severe peanut allergies.
“We believe because this product contained roasted peanut flour, separate from oily peanut butter, that masked this,” David said. He and Hannah’s mother, Janean, rushed 45 minutes from their home in Milton, Wisconsin, to her residence hall in Watertown.
‘Right lung collapsed’ Hannah’s reaction was immediate and severe. Her father shared that she vomited, broke out in hives, and found temporary relief with Benadryl.
But when she climbed to her top bunk to rest, her condition suddenly worsened.
“When Hannah rolled on her side, the anaphylaxis reaction that we had not seen before hit incredibly hard. This caused her to gasp for breath, leading to the collapsing of the lung, further exacerbating the situation,” David wrote in a Facebook post on November 11.
Hannah climbed down the ladder from her bed but lost consciousness “part way down” — before her EpiPen could be administered.
“I picked Hannah up… and carried her outside to wait for the ambulance to arrive,” he wrote. “She was completely unresponsive, and I was incredibly helpless.”
Paramedics arrived and worked desperately to revive her, but Hannah’s heart had stopped for four minutes. She was rushed to Watertown Hospital and later transferred to Froedtert Hospital, where she was placed on a ventilator.
Brain ‘terminally damaged’ Her family watched helplessly as doctors fought to save her, but the damage was catastrophic.
“The majority of her brain was unmistakably, seriously, critically, and without the life-sustaining measures in place, TERMINALLY damaged,” David wrote, explaining that several seizures had caused “severe brain swelling.”
“There were no conversations of quality of life or anything like that. This was only life and death!”
Despite the tireless efforts of medical teams, Hannah’s brain injuries left no hope for recovery.
‘Endless walk’ Before Hannah’s final goodbye on November 10, 2024, she was honored with a traditional “Honor Walk,” a touching tribute as she was taken to the operating room for organ donation.
About 300 people lined the hallway for the walk, her family beside her until their “final goodbye.”
“It seemed like an endless walk, yet it was also going too quickly,” David shared.
‘Good to have her home’ “We went and picked up Hannah’s cremated remains. It was and is a strange mix of emotions. There is still a strong sense of disbelief,” David wrote in a November 22 Facebook post. “Having now, this physical, tangible memorial of her physical life and body is nice, in one sense, because we now have something to see and to ‘hold on to,’ but it is also very sad because this is certainly not the same relationship that we had before. But, then again, it is good to have her home.”
Now her parents are urging people with food allergies to “Always be aware. Make sure your EpiPens are up to date,” David said.
Hannah’s organs have already saved four people in need of lifesaving transplants.
Hannah Glass’s story is a powerful reminder of how fragile life can be and the importance of food allergy awareness. Her memory lives on not only through the lives she saved but in the hearts of everyone who knew and loved her.
