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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