Meet Nellie Napier
The ninth person in the United States to die in the peanut butter Salmonella outbreak was an 80-year-old mother of six children who she raised on her own as low-wage factory worker in Ohio.
She was a devoted Cleveland Indians fan and a loving grandmother to 13 grandchildren and 11 great-grandchildren. Nellie Napier, 80, a long-time resident of Medina County, died January 26 from sepsis due to Salmonella. One of her five sons, Randy Napier, told the Akron Beacon Journal that his mother deserves to be known by name — not solely as the ninth victim of a deadly Salmonella outbreak.
She contracted her infection as a resident of a long-term care facility, where she regularly ate peanut butter to regulate her blood sugar level.
The family chose Fred Pritzker of national food safety law firm PritzkerOlsen Attorneys to represent them against Peanut Corporation of America, the maker of the peanut butter and the company that federal authorities have identified as the cause of the outbreak. Pritzker’s other clients in the outbreak include the families of two Minnesota women who also died after eating peanut butter in assisted living centers.
Randy Napier told the Beacon Journal that his family will fight for new food safety laws to protect American families from adulterated products.
“She dedicated her life to raising us,” Napier said. “She was very well liked by everyone she met and would not harm a flea. She was very quiet to the point of being shy, but she took care of us and kept us together.”
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