A 22-year-old Israeli from the Jerusalem area passed away in Bogotá, Colombia on Monday as a result of a severe dairy allergy. He was later identified as Dovid Ohana, z’l.
The niftar, who had been on a trip with friends to the Southern American country, mistakenly ate dairy in a restaurant six days ago. Although he had informed the waiter that he couldn’t eat lactose and was reassured that his food was safe, apparently a mixup occurred and he was brought his friend’s order, which contained cheese.
He was carrying an EpiPen injection but unfortunately, it did not help and he lost consciousness. His friends brought him to a local hospital in severe condition but the medical staff was not successful in stabilizing his condition. He passed away several days later.
The niftar learned in a yeshiva high school in Mevaseret Tzion, Walla reported.
The Israeli embassy in Bogotá is assisting and supporting the family and friends of the niftar. Efforts are being made to bring the body to Israel for kevurah as soon as possible.
Unfortunately, this is not the first such incident of Israelis dying of severe allergies in countries that are not as careful about allergies as residents of Western countries expect. In 2018, a 25-year-old Israeli woman died in northern India – also after mistakenly consuming dairy.
(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)
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9 Responses
BDE
Colombia not Columbia
Sometimes people say things without realising that in foreign countries they simply do not understand your language properly. As glucose and lactose can sound similar to a foreigner, if you tell a Colombian “no lactose” they might understand that as meaning “no sugar”. You might need to talk almost “baby language” to people to ensure that they understand what you are saying like getting them to repeat “no milk in anything, no cheese, no butter, no cream, you understand?”. If they cannot clearly confirm their understanding, either go in their kitchen to see what they are using of just don’t eat there. Might sound harsh or even stupid, but saving a life is definitely worth that.
BDE
I assume he was allergic to the protein in dairy foods. I have never heard of a true allergy to lactose. Many Jews are not able to digest lactose which causes stomach and intestinal issues.
It’s Colombia, not Columbia. Can you understand why people want Yeshiva students to have a better secular education, so newsfeeds aren’t full of embarrassing misspellings.
Sad story, but lesson must be learned – if its dangerous for you; don’t take the chance and only eat homemade food.
We’re the services of misaskim necessary.
@provaxx, what exactly is the problem with misspelling Colombia? Everyone understood the point perfectly.
Think about it: The author was able to spend many more hours studying Hashem’s holy wisdom (thus uniting himself with Hashem in perfect unity (see: תניא פ”ה. ועוד), and fulfilling his obligation to study Torah in every free moment), and at the same time know how to express himself clearly despite minor typos!
This is an amazing bargain. It’s like paying $5 for a winning 100-million-dollar lottery ticket – definitely a worthy investment. The difference is that $5 and $100-million are both finite, whereas Torah is infinite, so he is getting infinite value for sacrificing a minor, finite gain (properly spelling Colombia).
Was this at a treife restaurant?
A’h.
Pasteurized dairy products have a tendency to create allergies because all of the enzymes have been destroyed through the boiling process. (Homogenization further weakens whatever nutritional value is left as it breaks apart the cell walls of a substance.) More ancient breeds of cows, known as ‘origin cows’ or a2 herds have less casein which is also considered what causes lactose-intolerance. (a2/a2 dairy is from a cow bred from a2 stock from both sides.)
In most states raw milk is legal to purchase in stores. Many today unfortunately back inferior scientific ideas claiming that raw dairy is unsafe. In older times, until around ‘1920, there were raw-certified dairy committees that checked the dairy supply. These were typically groups of credentialed naturopathic practitioners and similar people. The USDA certifies raw milk currently in states where it is legal, which also illustrates that they understand it is safe. Unfortunately, many of today’s doctors and misinformed others attempt to malign its safety as they haven’t studied the issue that carefully and pressure legislation that tyrannizes their view. This typically benefits the pharmaceutical and allopathic ‘health’ industries.