he husband of a lady who died after consuming a Pret a Manger wrap has instructed an inquest of the harrowing second she collapsed on the street, unable to breathe.
Celia Marsh, 42, a dental nurse from Melksham, Wiltshire, died on December 27 2017 after consuming a super-veg rainbow flatbread from the sandwich chain’s retailer in Bathtub, Somerset.
The wrap had contained yogurt which was alleged to be vegan however was later discovered to have traces of dairy protein in it.
The mother-of-five suffered from a extreme dairy allergy and Avon Coroner’s Court docket was instructed she “religiously prevented” 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 and three of her daughters when she went into Pret to purchase one thing to eat.
In his assertion, which was learn to the listening to by the coroner’s officer, Andy Marsh stated his spouse had begun to really feel “a bit humorous” after consuming the wrap, whereas they had been in clothes retailer Hole, and so they determined to go away the store.
He stated: “We began strolling down the slim aspect road by the Hole retailer and Celia had her bronchial asthma inhaler out.
“She used it a few instances and I requested her if she was OK.
“She stated she was struggling to breathe however it might be due to the chilly air.
“We then moved to a small aspect road on the left and I pulled her to 1 aspect.”
He stated Mrs Marsh had initially thought she was “fooling around” as a result of the sandwich had been labelled “vegan”.
“She had her Epipen in her hand and I stated to her that if she thought there was any probability she was having a response that she ought to simply do it and use the pen because it doesn’t matter,” he stated.
“She then stated to me ‘It’s essential telephone an ambulance’,” he added.
Mr Marsh stated he phoned 999 by which era his spouse had collapsed and was being tended to by an off-duty GP who had supplied to assist.
“They took Celia away in an ambulance however I had my kids with me so couldn’t go within the ambulance together with her to the hospital,” Mr Marsh stated.
“I used to be actually in shock so it took a short while earlier than I used to be capable of drive as much as the hospital in my automobile.
“Once we arrived on the hospital we had been taken right into a aspect room and we had been instructed that Celia had been pronounced lifeless at 4pm.”
A civil servant who got here to Mrs Marsh’s support stated a crowd had fashioned within the busy road round her as she lay on the bottom.
He described the scene as “disturbing” and stated he noticed Mr Marsh making an attempt to consolation his younger daughter.
Quite a few folks had been stated to have taken off their coats to put over Mrs Marsh to maintain her heat.
Nonetheless one of many paramedics who attended stated in his assertion that some customers continued to step over Mrs Marsh as she was being handled.
Mr Marsh and his daughters could possibly be seen weeping throughout the listening to because the statements had been learn out.
The inquest is happening at Ashton Court docket Mansion Home in Bristol and is anticipated to final between two and three weeks. It’s going to decide how Mrs Marsh died.
Mrs Marsh’s household are being represented on the listening to by Jeremy Hyam QC, whereas events embrace Bathtub and North East Somerset Council, Australian-based coconut yogurt firm CoYo, and its UK distributor, Planet Coconut.
Each corporations had been concerned within the provide of the yogurt ingredient within the sandwich to Pret.
Pret was charged with meals security failures within the wake of Mrs Marsh’s loss of life, however the prosecution was later dropped as a result of lack of proof.
The corporate stated it will totally co-operate with the inquest.
Mrs Marsh’s loss of life 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 tragedy sparked an overhaul of meals labelling legal guidelines which now requires retailers to show full ingredient and allergen labelling on each meals merchandise made on the premises and pre-packed for direct sale, together with sandwiches, desserts and salads.
The chief govt of Pret, Pano Christou, was current at at present’s listening to.
