An Alabama woman was attacked and killed by a colony of fire ants earlier this month as she made funeral arrangements for her mother who had died the day before.
Kalyn Rolan, who family members said was allergic to fire ants, was sitting on a haystack May 20 when she was attacked by the aggressive insects.
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“The ants started coming out and getting all over her and she came off the haystack and my son said he grabbed her and put her on the ground, took her clothes off trying to help her to save her but he couldn’t save her,” Rolan’s mother-in-law, Sheila Rolan, told WSFA.
Rolan, who was the mother of two young boys, immediately began experiencing swelling across her body, and quickly lost the ability to breathe.
“She died in my son’s arms. I can only imagine what he’s going through right now, you know, and then having to save her mother too,” said Sheila Rolan.
The grieving family held a double funeral service for both Rolan and her mother, Roberta Lynn, on May 26.
The family also held a fundraiser over the weekend to help cover the costs of the burial.
Rolan’s family hopes her story can raise awareness about the importance of carrying an Epipen.
According to the Alabama Department of Public Health Center for Health Statistics, there were three allergy-related deaths caused by bees and one death caused by a snake bite between 2013 and 2015 in the state. However, there were no reported deaths caused by ant bites.
In Canada, although the total number of allergy-related medical emergencies has remained steady since 2006, the number of cases involving extreme anaphylaxis, or “a serious allergic reaction that is rapid in onset and may cause death,” increased by 95 per cent across that same period, according to Canadian Institute for Health Information.