HAMMERFALL Bassist: Cashew Nuts Nearly Killed Me

HAMMERFALL bassist Magnus Rosén, 42, nearly died from an allergy shock on a flight to Chile this past Tuesday (May 31).

"I could barely breathe, nobody understood me, and I didn't get any help. The panic took over my body," Rosén told the Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet.

Magnus Rosén's big misfortune was that the peanuts he received aboard the plane were mixed with cashew nuts, which he is allergic to.

"My tongue and throat quickly swelled up and I got hives all over my body. I could barely speak," the HAMMERFALL bassist said on the phone from Chile, one of the stops on the band's current South American tour.

What made the situation worse was the fact that the flight attendants on the Brazilian airline Varig could barely speak English.

"The situation got totally crazy because they thought I wanted more nuts! I just got worse and the panic started crwling through my body," Magnus said.

Finally at least one of them understood that he was in a state of emergency.

The crew brought out a medical box full of supplies that they had no idea how to use.

"They called an medical emergency number in the U.S. to help them," Magnus said. "Finally, two doctors who were passengers on the flight came forward to offer their assistance."

The first cortizone shot only helped marginally. "Then I received another one so strong that I passed out," Magnus said. "They woke me up once every half hour to check on me."

Since then he's been extremely tired but happy to be alive.

"I just about managed through the first show, but now it feels better," said Magnus Rosén.