A Georgia woman died at her home after she stepped on a pile of fire ants and suffered a fatal allergic reaction, according to her family and loved ones.
Cathy Weed, 43, was at her home in Lawrenceville, Ga., when she died on Saturday. Her family told WSB-TV, an ABC affiliate in Atlanta, that she died because of a severe allergic reaction she had to fire ants. The reaction was so strong that she was unable to get to her medicine in time before she died, her family told local media.
Chad Johnson, an investigator with the Gwinnett County Medical Examiner’s Office, confirmed to The Washington Post that the office conducted Weed’s autopsy on Monday. Johnson said the coroner’s office was still investigating her death as of Wednesday morning.
“The cause and manner of death is still pending,” Johnson said.
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Phyllis Weed, Cathy’s mother, declined to comment on Wednesday, saying in a text message to The Post, “Please honor our privacy.” In her obituary, Weed’s family wrote that they were “shocked” at how she had died and that her passing was so sudden.
“While Cathy’s life was taken too soon, the people who knew her knew the quality of her life greatly exceeded the quantity,” the family wrote.
Kitt Miller, a family friend, told WAGA, a Fox affiliate in Atlanta, that one bite from a fire ant triggered the fatal reaction.
“One single fire ant bite was enough to send her into anaphylactic shock,” Miller said.
Once fire ants clamp onto humans, they inject venom using their stingers, according to the U.S. Agriculture Department. Symptoms generally include itches and rashes.
Deaths from fire ant stings are rare, but they do happen. Bayer, which makes anti-fire-ant products, noted in 2012 research that 10 to 15 percent of people stung by fire ants suffer severe allergic reactions to the bites. Among that group, 1 to 2 percent show dangerous reactions that can sometimes result in death, the company says. The World Health Organization also says that “anaphylactic shock was conservatively estimated to occur in 1 percent of the victims.”
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The red imported fire ant is considered an invasive pest from South America that has made its presence known in many parts of the world, including the United States. The annual economic cost of fire ants in the United States is estimated at $6.5 billion, according to a 2008 study from the World Health Organization. The same WHO study found that anywhere between 30 percent and 60 percent of the population in infested areas in the United States is stung each year. Many of the fire-ant-infested parts in the United States are in the southeastern part of the country.
Weed grew up in Lawrenceville, about 35 miles northeast of Atlanta, according to her obituary. She graduated from Collins Hill High School in Suwanee, Ga., before getting her bachelor’s degree at the University of Georgia in 2002. Weed, who was a single mother, worked in kitchen and bath design for 17 years, the obituary says. When she wasn’t working, she was watching her son, Grayson, play baseball and enjoying her Georgia Bulldogs, which had won back-to-back national championships in college football.
Share this articleShare“She was a truly sweet and dedicated soul who always put others before herself,” the family wrote.
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The news rocked the Lawrenceville community, who remembered Weed as the ultimate “Mama Bear.” Jason Johnson, the baseball coach at Mountain View High School, where Weed’s son plays, said the team is fully supporting the rising sophomore after the sudden death of his mother.
“It is a very difficult time for our community and families, as Cathy was an absolutely wonderful person and loved by everyone,” Johnson wrote on Facebook. “I am very proud of our Bears baseball players for loving on their teammate last night and over the weekend, and know they will continue to raise the Weed family up during this difficult time.”
Others took to social media, with one person saying that Weed’s death after a fire ant bite “feels like a horrible nightmare!”
Still not sure how or what to say. We love you Grayson! Still feels like a horrible nightmare! Talia Camp Gracelynn Camp Cathy Weed
Posted by April Camp on Sunday, June 25, 2023A meal train set up for Weed’s family had raised more than $11,000 as of Wednesday morning.
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Miller told WAGA that losing her friend was a reminder that those who need medicine such as an EpiPen should have it on them at all times.
“The importance of having your EpiPen on you at all times, making sure your family knows where your EpiPen is, taking those preventive measures,” Miller said. “So that, you know, hopefully something like this can be prevented.”
Weed is survived by many family members, including her son, mother and sisters.
Zuhera Waite, a friend and fellow baseball mom, told WSB-TV that Weed “always had a smile on her face.” Waite’s goal was to help Weed’s son remember who his mother was.
“We won’t ever let him forget her,” Waite said.
Weed’s family wrote in her obituary that they had lost “a loving mother, daughter, sister, favorite aunt and friend” whose death has left them with more questions than answers.
“The passing of Cathy has shocked us all,” the family wrote, “but in faith we move forward.”
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