College graduate ‘on the cusp of living his life’ dies from peanut allergy

SOUTHBOROUGH, Mass. (WJAR) - A Massachusetts family is raising awareness about food allergies after their 22-year-old son died just days after graduating from college.

Timothy “Timmy” Howard, 22, graduated from the University of Rhode Island in May with a degree in communication studies and had a summer internship lined up.

“A positive, upbeat, kind, quiet soul,” said his mother, Patty Howard. “He was on the cusp of living his life.”

But just days after his graduation, the 22-year-old died May 24 from an allergic reaction to peanuts. His family says he ate a late-night snack at home that was contaminated.

“He came in and woke us up and said that he couldn’t breathe. At that point, it unfolded very quickly,” said his father, Tim Howard.

The family did everything right, istering Timmy Howard’s EpiPen and calling 911, but it was too late.

“It kills people. It killed my brother,” said his sister, Julia Howard, who also has food allergies.

Now, left with many unanswered questions, the Howard family is making it their mission to use the 22-year-old’s death for good by raising awareness.

“For companies to realize that putting ‘may contain’ sometimes – knowing what’s in your food and consumers knowing what’s on the label, I think is really important," Julia Howard said.

“We just want to bring awareness to make sure everyone reads labels and really looks at the ingredients,” Patty Howard said. “Maybe we can help out another family, so they don’t have to go through what we just went through – hell and back.”

Timmy Howard was an organ donor and will be helping to save four lives. His Phi Kappa Psi fraternity brothers at URI are raising money for FARE, the Food Allergy Research & Education organization, in an effort to help his family’s mission.

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