Current:Home > ScamsDancer Órla Baxendale’s Final Moments Revealed Before Eating Cookie That Killed Her -FundCenter
Dancer Órla Baxendale’s Final Moments Revealed Before Eating Cookie That Killed Her
View
Date:2025-04-27 17:58:22
New details are emerging about Órla Baxendale's final moments.
The New York dancer, who died Jan. 11 at age 25, took precautions to prevent her death, according to her family attorney.
At a social gathering earlier this month, Baxendale went into anaphylactic shock due to a severe allergic reaction from eating a cookie that contained peanuts—although the label did not disclose the ingredient, her lawyer said.
"Because Orla was so vigilant and so careful with everything she touched, she actually Googled 'soy nut,' which is on the package," her attorney Marijo Adimey told ABC News, "wanting to make sure that a soy nut wasn't a nut." (Soy nuts are soybeans, not tree nuts.)
After she took a bite of Stew Leonard's Vanilla Florentine Cookie, Baxendale began having a reaction. Her friends rushed her to the hospital and used her EpiPen, per the outlet, but she sadly didn't make it.
Stew Leonard Jr.—the CEO of the supermarket chain that sold the desserts—said they were not informed that the supplier had changed the recipe from soy nuts to peanuts.
In response, the manufacturer Cookies United publicly shared a note the company allegedly sent out months prior, informing vendors they were adding peanuts as an ingredient in the holiday cookies.
"Unfortunately, considering the tragedy of these circumstances, we need to point out that Stew Leonard's was notified by Cookies United in July of 2023 that this product now contains peanuts and all products shipped to them have been labeled accordingly," Cookies United said in a Jan. 23 press release. "This product is sold under the Stew Leonard's brand and repackaged at their facilities. The incorrect label was created by, and applied to, their product by Stew Leonard's."
The supermarket recalled mislabeled cookies that had been sold from Nov. 6 to Dec. 31 at their stores in Danbury and Newington, Conn.
Baxendale's family has not spoken out about the incident, but have been communicating their grief through their lawyer.
"They're too distraught to speak," Adimey added. "They want this story out so it doesn't happen again."
Baxendale, a U.K. native, is being remembered by the dance community for her lively personality and talent for performing.
"For someone to leave us so young and so soon at the height of career is a tragedy," her dance instructor Guillermo Asca told ABC. "She was vibrant, dynamic, kooky, someone who didn't take herself seriously but took work seriously."
For the latest breaking news updates, click here to download the E! News AppveryGood! (9735)
Related
- Arkansas State Police probe death of woman found after officer
- Need after-school snack ideas? We've got you covered. Here are the healthiest options.
- Brittany Mahomes Has a Message for Chiefs Critics After Patrick Mahomes’ Championship Victory
- In the battle over identity, a centuries-old issue looms in Taiwan: hunting
- Which apps offer encrypted messaging? How to switch and what to know after feds’ warning
- Massachusetts man arrested for allegedly threatening Jewish community members and to bomb synagogues
- Heart and Cheap Trick team up for Royal Flush concert tour: 'Can't wait'
- Minnesota trooper accused of fatally shooting motorist Ricky Cobb II makes first court appearance
- Louvre will undergo expansion and restoration project, Macron says
- A sex educator on the one question she is asked the most: 'Am I normal?'
Ranking
- 'Kraven the Hunter' spoilers! Let's dig into that twisty ending, supervillain reveal
- Officials say 1 policeman, 6 insurgents killed as rebels launch rocket attacks in southwest Pakistan
- This $438 Kate Spade Crossbody & Wallet Bundle Is on Sale for Just $119 and It Comes in 5 Colors
- Ukraine’s strikes on targets inside Russia hurt Putin’s efforts to show the war isn’t hitting home
- Paula Abdul settles lawsuit with former 'So You Think You Can Dance' co
- Haitian judge seeks to interview widow of slain president in leaked warrant obtained by AP
- Church of England leader says a plan to send migrants to Rwanda undermines the UK’s global standing
- Amber Alert issued for Kentucky 5-year-old after mother, Kelly Black, found dead
Recommendation
Highlights from Trump’s interview with Time magazine
Look what the Chiefs made airlines do: New flight numbers offered for Super Bowl
US Navy crisis: Standard drops to allow recruits without high school diplomas
Kidnapping suspect killed, 2 deputies wounded in gunfire exchange after pursuit, officials say
Scoot flight from Singapore to Wuhan turns back after 'technical issue' detected
Super Bowl winners and scores: All-time results for every NFL championship game
Michigan man charged with threatening to hang Biden, Harris and bomb Washington D.C.
Iranian man and 2 Canadians are charged in a murder-for-hire plot on US soil