Appearing on Good Morning Britain, Abimbola Duyile is speaking out after the inquest into the death of her 13-year-old daughter, Hannah Jacobs, concluded.
According to Ms Duyile, she and Hannah were on the way to the dentist’s when they stopped at a Costa Coffee outlet and ordered two hot chocolates made with soy milk, as Hannah had been diagnosed with allergies to cow’s milk, egg, fish and wheat when she was a toddler. Duyile was careful to inform the barista of her daughter’s milk allergy while ordering.
At the dentist’s office, Hannah took a sip of her drink and immediately told her mother it hadn’t been made with soy milk.
They both rushed to a nearby pharmacy, where a staffer administered a junior epinephrine auto-injector dose to Hannah and called emergency services. Although Hannah should have received an adult dose, the pharmacy had none on hand due to a shortage of the devices.
An ambulance arrived shortly afterward, but despite their best efforts, their attempts at resuscitating the girl were unsuccessful. She was declared dead at 1PM that day.
Last month the inquest concluded that Hannah died from an allergic reaction due to failure by staff at the coffee shop chain to follow allergy safety procedures.
Speaking on Thursday morning, Ms Duyile said:
For a mother to go through this, for any parent to go through this is very hard, it’s terrible, it’s not a good feeling because it’s like you’ve lost your world.
I’ve got two kids, my kids are my world, and no parent should go through this or suffer this way.
To see your child suffer her last breaths on earth screaming, answering that she didn’t want to die- that is painful.
I just want anyone that is struggling, or their child is struggling with allergies or anything to make sure this never happens again because it is not a good thing.
She added:
From the time we could eat something, that was it, it was like drummed into her.
I made sure every day she knew about it, any where she was going, I let people know about it, so for years it was just avoid, avoid, avoid.
One thing I keep saying to myself is that I am so happy I let her live her life. I am so happy I let her be herself, she loved to do thing outdoors, She liked rock climbing, she liked to listen to music, she liked to dance, sometimes she can even cook a very good meal as well.
I remember when we first moved into our new house, she made me a very nice meal on my way back from work, I work in a care home, I do 12 hour shifts, I’m tired.
My child bought me flowers, she made me dinner. I was so grateful, for someone that’s 11 years old to do that for you, that’s special and She’s going to be missed every single day.
But in a poignant moment of reflection, Ms Duyile gave a salient warning to the food allergy community: “Don’t be like me, carry the Epi-Pens with you.”
You can see clips of Ms Duyile’s appearance on Good Morning Britain here:
We also suggest you watch this interview with Ms Duyile on the BBC where she calls for major changes, including allergen training for all food handlers:
Please heed Ms Duyile’s advice. Epinephrine is the only drug that can halt and reverse the progression of anaphylaxis, but it can’t save your life or the life of your child if you’ve left it home in the medicine cabinet or a kitchen drawer.
Take two emergency epinephrine devices along everywhere, every time, and be sure to administer the first when you first suspect anaphylaxis.
