Tuesday, August 13, 2024 - A 13-year-old girl with a severe dairy allergy died after taking a sip of a Costa Coffee hot chocolate, an inquest has heard.
Hannah Jacobs, who had been allergic to
dairy, fish and eggs since she was a baby, died within hours of having a sip of
the drink on 8 February 2022, the East London Coroner's Court was told.
The mother of the girl, Abimbola Duyile said she had ordered two takeaway hot
chocolates with soya milk before taking the teenager to a dental appointment.
She claimed to have informed the
barista at the Costa branch in Barking, east London, that Hannah was severely
allergic to cow's milk.
In a statement, Ms Duyile told the inquest
she requested the milk jug be cleaned, "to which they agreed".
After walking away with the drinks, the court heard Hannah took a sip of the
drink on her way to the dentist and “abruptly got up and went to the toilet and
shouted 'that was not soya milk'” while coughing up phlegm.
Ms Duyile said her daughter had an
"immediate reaction" and rushed her to a chemist as she was
complaining of chest pains, her "lips and mouth were very swollen and she
was itchy".
Hannah, then collapsed at the chemist, where
she was given an EpiPen injection and a pharmacist tried to resuscitate her.
She was declared dead in hospital by 1pm,
her family's lawyers said.
Speaking to the court, Ms Duyile said "My initial response was of anger to
the Costa Coffee staff - it gave way to terror," adding that she
"made sure that the staff (were) aware that this was not a joke"
while ordering the drinks.
She said she was being "extra
picky" with the order to the extent that she "might sound like a
crazy mum", but she needed "to be straight with the staff" about
Hannah's allergy.
"Hannah was busy telling me off for
being so picky," she said, before noting that she felt the barista behind
the counter "did not understand what I was saying, which is why I leaned
forwards so that she could hear what I was saying".
The inquest continues.
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