‘Daddy help me, I can’t breathe’ – Teen who died after eating Pret baguette

A teenager who died after eating a Pret a Manger baguette on a flight said “Daddy, help me, I can’t breathe”, as she went into cardiac arrest, an inquest has heard.

Natasha Ednan-Laperouse, 15, who had numerous allergies, collapsed on the flight from London to Nice on 17 July 2016 at the start of what should have been “the best summer ever”, her parents said.

Her father bought her an artichoke, olive and tapenade baguette, chosen by her, as they passed through Heathrow’s terminal five with her best friend, West London Coroner’s Court heard on the first day of the inquest.

The family, from Fulham, west London, said the fact the bread contained sesame seeds was not mentioned on packaging.

Her father, Nadim Ednan-Laperouse, administered two EpiPen shots to her legs on the plane but she went into cardiac arrest and died later that day in a hospital in Nice.

Mr Ednan-Laperouse told the court Natasha, who was diligent about checking labels, started eating the sandwich on the aircraft and immediately felt her throat itching so took some Piriton.

About 20 minutes into the flight she said it was getting worse and her neck was red from rubbing it.

She then returned from the bathroom with red hives on her midriff “like a jellyfish sting”, the inquest heard.

Her father told the court: “[She told me] ‘Daddy, I’m not feeling well’ and she lifted up her top and she displayed these red welts like lacerations which I had not seen before, but I understood something unbelievable was going on.”

They rushed to the toilets where her father administered an EpiPen but after a couple of minutes she said she could not breathe properly and it was getting worse so she wanted her second EpiPen.

He jabbed it in her upper thigh but it did nothing and she started foaming at the mouth.

“Natasha said that she still couldn’t breathe and desperately looked at me, she said ‘Daddy, help me, I can’t breathe’,” he said.

The teenager then lost consciousness and cabin staff were helped by junior doctor Dr Pearson Jones, who had graduated the day before, to carry out CPR for the rest of the journey, which she remained unconscious for.

A crew member was crying, but Mr Ednan-Laperouse said he remained “as level-headed as I could, I called her so she heard my voice”.

A team of paramedics met the flight in Nice and they took her to a hospital, restarting her heart twice.

The hospital doctor told Mr Ednan-Laperouse that Natasha had a 5% chance of survival as her blood pressure was not rising.

He then called his wife and son and put the phone to Natasha’s ear so they could “say goodbye”.

Her mother, Tanya, wiped her eyes as she listened to the statement in court.

Natasha had never not reacted to her EpiPen before and the family was “so careful with food”, not allowing any nuts or seeds in their home and diligently reading labels, the inquest was told.

Oliver Campbell QC, representing Pret, said a label on the sandwich would have said “freshly prepared with good natural ingredients”.

Mr Ednan-Laperouse asked his own mother to visit a branch of Pret in west London to examine the sandwich.

She found nothing on the label or the shelf so made inquiries at the counter and was handed a folder of information which said the baguette dough had sesame seed in it, he said.

He said: “I was stunned that a big food company like Pret could mislabel a sandwich and this could cause my daughter to die.”

But Mr Campbell suggested he “must unfortunately be mistaken” as the food’s packaging does not typically display ingredients.

The distraught father said he regularly bought food from Pret on business trips, but has not since, and found some branches had labels and others did not.

“There was no label on the fridge, I have got an eagle eye for such things,” he said.

“The vigilance levels that me and my wife have are like that of a hawk – if there is some there to be seen, we are going to be seeing it.”

The inquest is due to last until Friday.

(c) Sky News 2018: ‘Daddy help me, I can’t breathe’ – Teen who died after eating Pret baguette