Years after losing his sister who ate a Pret A Manger sandwich, a man has pleaded with the public.
Natasha Ednan-Laperouse was just 15-years-old when she died from anaphylaxis in 2016.
She had been suffering with a sesame food allergy all of her life and despite her best attempts at keeping herself safe, she tragically lost her life on 17 July 2016.
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It was when the 15-year-old teen tucked into a Pret A Manger artichoke, olive and tapenade sandwich she bought at Heathrow Airport not knowing it contained sesame that she began to have a reaction.
After collapsing on her flight to Nice, France, her father called 13-year-old Alex Ednan-Laperouse, who was Natasha’s little brother.
He told him that Natasha was dying, and he had just seconds to say goodbye to her.
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Natasha couldn’t eat the birthday cake at parties and had to bring her own food instead, and always had to carry around EpiPens.
Alex told The Times: “It was so unexpected, because I was so adamant that she would survive and would be OK.
“I remember having very little time, saying, ‘I love you, Tash. You’ve been an amazing sister to me. Thank you so much for everything.’
“And the phone call ended and I ran upstairs into a room by myself, and I just cried. I cried for hours.”
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Natasha’s final words were for her ‘daddy’ to help her, which left Nadim (her father) heartbroken.
The cause of her death was found to have been due to the legislation at the time which did not require food made on the premises to display allergen advice on labels, thus leading to her not to know that she was consuming sesame.
Alex noted that while he and his family take allergies seriously, that’s not always the case.
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Now 21, the university-student who wants to get into the human rights law industry, to commemorate his kind sister, shared that he wants to challenge people’s views on allergies.
According to him, there have been instances where people have laughed about them in front of him, causing him to bite his tongue and hold back his thoughts.
But he wants other students to share their struggles and allergens, urging them not to stay silent for fear of being a picky eater or being singled out.
He said: “I’ve noticed that quite a few people are scared to tell their flatmates about their allergy, because they don’t want to annoy people,” he said.
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“Sometimes they’re embarrassed; they don’t want people to think of them as fussy eaters.”
Alex added: “I say, ‘You’ve got to tell them, because this is life or death. This isn’t just a lifestyle choice.’ And if they want, they can use my story, what happened to Tash, as an example.”
Yesterday (16 December) would have been Natasha’s 24th birthday.
Alex shared that each year on her birthday, they watch one of Natasha’s favourite musicals as she loved to sing and see musicals at the West End.
They then ‘reminisce’ on their time spent with her.
Her parents successfully campaigned to have the allergen label legislation updated as per Natasha’s Law.
Topics: Health, UK News, Food And Drink
Britt Jones