A few drops on the outside of the latex gloves was enough to kill her. Maybe she would have survived if she'd changed the gloves immediately? Regardless, she didn't do that, and so didn't survive.
Worth noting is that it took almost a year for that exposure to kill her, and half that before they even realized something happened that day. From the article:
On Aug. 14, 1996, Karen Wetterhahn was exposed to dimethylmercury while making a standard for nuclear magnetic resonance studies related to DNA damage.
(...)
It was 5 full months before the consequences of that spill became apparent. Wetterhahn developed stomach problems, then began having trouble walking and speaking clearly. A friend, nurse Cathy Johnson, recalls a lunch date in early January 1997 when she urged Wetterhahn to see a doctor.
Within a few weeks, Wetterhahn was in a coma. On June 8, 1997, she died. She was 48 years old.
I always imagined all such nasty chemicals kill you in a matter of minutes to hours, days at the most. I never imagined they could turn you into a walking corpse. It's up there with Rabies.
My first reaction to this was to get angry. If there was such a simple solution, wouldn't she still be alive?
But, luckily, I hit Google first. https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/publication/FS437 showed that selenium does protect against mercury. Even dimethylmercury. And https://www.webmd.com/diet/health-benefits-brazil-nuts shows that Brazil nuts are an excellent way to get selenium. In fact it is comparable to a supplement, and a sustained diet of 3 nuts per day is already in the toxic range. I had no idea.
So it appears to be correct, there's a good chance that eating Brazil nuts could have saved her life!
A few drops on the outside of the latex gloves was enough to kill her. Maybe she would have survived if she'd changed the gloves immediately? Regardless, she didn't do that, and so didn't survive.