LOVEJOY, Ga. -- An Atlanta man died last week after eating seafood at a restaurant in Lovejoy.

According to his family, Rodney Hawkins, 35, passed out, stopped breathing and then died after having an allergic reaction while eating what he thought was crab meat at a Ruby Tuesday restaurant on Tara Boulevard. The family said the restaurant served him the wrong dish off the menu.

“We just don't understand. It's hard to understand. It wasn't a car accident, he didn't have cancer. It was a meal, a mix-up with a meal,” said sister Yolanda Davis.

Davis said her brother ordered the chicken fresco dish. But instead, she said, he received a seafood dish. She said Hawkins would never order seafood since he's allergic to it, and seafood could kill him.

“I just think that when you go and order anything, you should get what you order,” said sister Jonlynn Hawkins.

“For me, it was like my heart stopped itself. I couldn't focus, I couldn't concentrate. I sat in one spot for hours and said, ‘I don't know what to do,’” said sister Harriett Hawkins.

Officials at Ruby Tuesday insist they did not get the order wrong.

"Our investigation of this incident clearly indicates that the guest ordered Chicken Oscar, a dish that contains crab meat. The server's order pad and the ticket to the kitchen also verify the accuracy of the order," the restaurant said in a statement.

Hawkins’ family said he was a rising musician and the youngest of nine children.

“We had just spoken with him. He would text us every day to give us a cheering message,” Harriett said.

“Rodney was a very funny, happy-go-lucky, loving, kind, caring person,” said Davis.

The family told CBS 46 Tuesday that they plan to bury their brother before considering legal action.