Peanut Allergic Teen who Died at Camp Honored Through Foundation

Natalie Giorgi, 13, tragically died after taking a bite of a Rice Krispies treat that had peanut butter in July. The girl had a severe peanut allergy and despite all interventions, she passed away. Now her family have set up a foundation in her honor to remember her daughter and hopefully warn parents of the dangers of food allergies.

Natalie Giorgi. Who was known as "Sunshine Girl" by her family and friends, died after she accidentally took a bite of a Rice Krispies treat with peanut butter while at Camp Sacramento on July 26, according to Fox 40 news. Natalie had been allergic to peanuts since age 3. After taking a bite and realized it had peanuts, she spat it out and ran to her father who is a doctor.

About 20 minutes after eating the treat, she started vomiting, then had trouble breathing and went into cardiac arrest. Her father administered 3 EpiPens on her in a bid to prevent the full-body reaction, but that wasn't enough. Despite doing everything right, Natalie died at Tahoe hospital.

To honor their daughter and help bring awareness to food allergies, Louis and Joanne Giorgi created The Natalie Giorgi Sunshine Foundation. The goal of the foundation is to enlighten the minds of people to the dangers of food allergies.

"Parents and children with food allergies never chose this and we need to help protect our children and all those other children that are out there. It is just too prevalent. It is just too deadly for us not to pay attention," Louis said.

"Natalie would be thrilled that people are now starting to think about it and saying, 'Wait a second, I never took that child's food allergy seriously.' She'd like that," Natalie's mother Joanne Giorgi said.

For more information, go to the website at www.nateam.org. There will also be a fundraising walk at Southside Park on Sunday, September 15 in Sacramento.

"A small amount of peanut, if you're a sensitive person, can be fatal," said Dr. Scott Sicherer, a professor of pediatrics and chief of the division of allergy and immunology at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York City. "And the peanut is a pretty common food, which can be hidden in things, so it's hard to avoid."