A dental nurse with a extreme dairy allergy died after consuming a Pret a Manger wrap that was labelled as vegan however included dairy protein, an inquest has heard.
Celia Marsh, 42, collapsed on the street, unable to breathe, after she ate a super-veg rainbow flatbread from the sandwich chain’s retailer in Bath, Somerset, on 27 December 2017.
The wrap had contained yogurt which was alleged to be vegan however was later discovered to have traces of dairy protein in it.
An inquest is being held into the demise of the mother-of-five, who suffered from a extreme dairy allergy and “religiously avoided” all dairy merchandise following a near-fatal allergic response months earlier.
Mrs Marsh had been on a post-Christmas procuring journey together with her husband Andy and three of her daughters when she went into Pret to purchase one thing to eat.
In a press release learn to Avon Coroner’s Court, Mr Marsh mentioned his spouse had begun to really feel “a bit funny” after consuming the wrap and so they determined to go away a Gap clothes retailer.
She had mentioned she was “struggling to breathe” in order that they moved to a small facet avenue, he added.
The courtroom heard that Mrs Marsh, from Melksham in Wiltshire, had initially thought she was “being silly” as a result of the sandwich had been labelled “vegan”.
Mr Marsh mentioned: “She had her Epipen in her hand and I mentioned to her that if she thought there was any likelihood she was having a response that she ought to simply do it and use the pen because it would not matter.
“She then said to me ‘You need to phone an ambulance’,” he added.
Mr Marsh mentioned he referred to as 999, by which period his spouse had collapsed and was being tended to by an off-duty GP who had provided to assist.
“They took Celia away in an ambulance but I had my children with me so could not go in the ambulance with her to the hospital,” Mr Marsh mentioned.
“I was really in shock so it took a short time before I was able to drive up to the hospital in my car.
“When we arrived on the hospital we had been taken right into a facet room and we had been instructed that Celia had been pronounced useless at 4pm.”
Brendan Turvey, a civil servant with first support coaching who went to assist Mrs Marsh, mentioned a crowd had shaped within the busy avenue round her as she lay on the bottom.
He described the scene as “disturbing” and mentioned he noticed Mr Marsh trying to consolation his younger daughter.
Plenty of individuals had been mentioned to have taken off their coats to position over Mrs Marsh to maintain her heat.
However, Shawn Eyles, one of many paramedics who attended, mentioned some consumers continued to step over Mrs Marsh as she was being handled.
Mr Marsh and his daughters could possibly be seen weeping in the course of the listening to because the statements had been learn out.
Pret was charged with meals security failures within the wake of Mrs Marsh’s demise, however the prosecution was later dropped because of lack of proof.
The firm mentioned it will totally co-operate with the inquest, with its chief govt Pano Christou current at Tuesday’s listening to.
Interested events on the inquest embrace Bath and North East Somerset Council, Australian-based coconut yogurt firm CoYo, and its UK distributor, Planet Coconut.
Both companies had been concerned within the provide of the yogurt ingredient within the sandwich to Pret.
Mrs Marsh’s demise got here within the wake of that of 15-year-old Natasha Ednan-Laperouse, who died in 2016 after consuming a Pret baguette containing sesame seeds, purchased at Heathrow Airport.
Ms Ednan-Laperouse had a sesame allergy.
The inquest into Mrs Marsh’s demise is predicted to final between two and three weeks.
Source: information.sky.com”