Model Chantel Giacalone's family was given $29.5 million by a Las Vegas jury after an allergic reaction to eating a peanut butter-filled pretzel left her brain damaged.
The sum was given to the family on Friday after a jury found that Giacalone was mistreated by an ambulance service who responded to the emergency, the New York Post reports.
Giacalone was modeling at a fashion trade show at the Mandalay Bay South Convention Center in 2013 when her friend bought her a pretzel-topped frozen yogurt. The model took a bite and went into anaphylactic shock.
Lawyer Christian Morris argued that the woman lost significant oxygen to her brain upon seeking treatment from MedicWest Ambulance. The medics on site did not have IV epinephrine on hand, which is required by Southern Nevada Health District.
Now, Giacalone is a quadriplegic, being fed through a tube and communicating only with her eyes.
"Every minute of Chantel's life has been inextricably altered," Morris said during the three-week trial. "Every single minute since she walked into that medic room to a company that chose profits over patient care."
MedicWest, however, claimed that the outcome was inevitable due to Giacalone's severe peanut allergy.
Her father, Jack Giacalone, is happy about the outcome of the trial. "At least my daughter will be taken care of. I'm happy about that," he said.
However, the treatment she received was still a disappointment to her father. "The truth came out. Because what happened in that room was nothing. They let my daughter linger," he said.
"All the anguish that we've been through for the last eight years, I'm not happy about. I just hope MedicWest changes their ways," he continued.
The model's parents say that the money from the lawsuit will go towards her future care and a new home that better fits her needs.
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