When Diallo Robbins-Brinson's soccer teammates hit the field Saturday, they'll be without one of their players. But the 15-year-old's presence will still be there, his coach told the AJC late Wednesday.
The front of the team's jerseys will say "In memory of Diallo" for the teenager, who died Monday after an apparent allergic reaction. Coach Matt Odom said the team has vowed to play and win the final state championship game for their friend and teammate.
“We’re not going to change anything; we’re just going to carry on," Odom said.
The team hopes to celebrate again Saturday, just as it did last Saturday after a pair of tournament wins. But that night, things went from happy to tragic in a matter of minutes.
After finishing dinner with his teammates at a McDonough buffet restaurant Saturday night, Diallo, of Macon, reached for two of his favorite cookies for dessert. White chocolate with Macadamia nuts. Or, at least that's what he believed they were, his mother said.
Within minutes of eating them, Diallo Robbins-Brinson was on the floor, unconscious, his mother told the AJC early Wednesday. The Central High School freshman died Monday at an Atlanta hospital after apparently suffering an allergic reaction, his mother said.
"He was sitting there with his teammates, and everyone was excited," Larmia Robbins-Brinson, Diallo's mother, said in a phone interview. "Within minutes, he was unconscious and never responded."
Although he had been allergic to peanuts his entire life and knew to avoid them, Diallo had eaten white chocolate Macadamia nut cookies plenty of times and never had a reaction, his mother said. He so accustomed to avoiding peanuts, Diallo no longer carried an Epi-Pen, a device containing medicine to stop an allergic reaction, according to his mom.
"He thought he was eating something safe," Larmia Robbins-Brinson said. "He loved them. If he had smelled peanut butter, he wouldn't have picked them."
In a statement to the AJC expressing sympathy to the teen's family, the restaurant chain Golden Corral said cookies containing Macadamia nuts are not part its menu. But some cookies do contain peanut butter and nuts, Tom Donahue, restaurant spokesman, said Wednesday afternoon.
When she saw Diallo sweaty, with red eyes, his mother knew something was very wrong. Her son was unable to walk out of the restaurant, she said. Moments later, he was lying on the ground, and Robbins-Brinson called 911, unsure of the address of the Golden Corral she was in.
A stranger in the restaurant offered an Epi-Pen Jr., and Odom administered it to Diallo, but the smaller dose contained in the device was not enough to stop the reaction, his mother said. She tried CPR and chest compressions until paramedics arrived and took over.
"I knew in my heart then that he wasn't going to make it because he had been too long without air," Robbins-Brinson said.
Still, paramedics transported Diallo to a local hospital, where he was stabilized before being transported to Children's Healthcare of Atlanta at Scottish Rite late Saturday. But Diallo never regained consciousness, and testing at Scottish Rite confirmed he had no brain activity, Robbins-Brinson said. The teenager died Monday afternoon.
School counselor Dorothy Krakow told the AJC that classmates and teachers spent Tuesday grieving for the popular student, known for his constant smile.
"Diallo was just a wonderful student," Krakow said. "He was gracious and kind to everyone."
In addition to playing soccer for club and school teams, Diallo also was involved with the school's theater department, Krakow said.
"He was just one of those students that you really go, ‘Wow,'" Krakow said. "He had an absolute bright future ahead of him. So much potential and possibility for him. It’s heartbreaking."
Dozens of friends posted messages about Diallo on a Facebook page called Prayers for Diallo. A memorial was being planned for Friday afternoon at the school, his mother said.
Diallo's mother told the AJC her son's organs were donated, and that his heart went to a teen the same age.
"That thought has brought me some comfort," Robbins-Brinson said. "That's the type of thing he would've done. Another 15-year-old will get to go to their prom and get their driver's license, the things he was looking forward to."
Diallo is at least the third young person from Georgia to die from an allergic reaction since August, when a Gwinnett County high school student and a Kennesaw State University student died from reactions during the same week. Experts estimate that 1 in 25 children has a food allergy.
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