Woman dies after fiancé's proposal when she uses wrong tea spoon

21.01.2023 - 21:25 / dailyrecord.co.uk

A man has spoken of his heartbreak after his partner died just days after his proposal when she used the wrong spoon to stir a cup of tea. Craig McKinnon, 24, had whisked his girlfriend Jess, 24, away to South Africa for a romantic holiday when she suffered a fatal allergic reaction.

Jess, who had an acute dairy allergy, was rushed to the hospital after using a contaminated spoon to stir her tea. Doctors battled to save her but she was pronounced dead shortly on New Year's Eve.

Heartbroken Craig says they had been a week into their dream South Africa trip when he had popped the question on December 27, at the God’s Window viewpoint in Mpumalanga. Speaking to the Mirror 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 loved-up couple celebrated with champagne and “lots of laughter” before joining Jess's mum at her home in Johannesburg on December 30. it was during their stay that Jess came into contact with dairy while using a contaminated spoon to stir her tea.

Within moments she had gone into anaphylaxis which caused her throat to close up. Jess, who worked as a marketing executive, was taken to hospital but died the next day, on December 31.

She usually 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, told how he recalled been woken by