'Beautiful boy' with peanut allergy ‘asked if he was going to die after eating pizza’
09.01.2024 - 08:03
/ manchestereveningnews.co.uk
A computer programmer with a peanut allergy, who ate a slice of pizza he ordered via Deliveroo, asked paramedics if he was going to die before passing out, an inquest has been told.
James Atkinson, 23, ordered a chicken tikka masala pizza, chips and other Indian dishes with a flatmate, having searched the internet for likely ingredients in certain foods, the inquest in Newcastle was told.
The former Newcastle University student, originally from Leeds, is said to have eaten less than a slice of the pizza before realising something was wrong as he became rapidly unwell. While his flatmate unsuccessfully looked for an EpiPen, Mr Atkinson called an ambulance.
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The inquest was read a statement from Stephen Gillespie, a paramedic with the North East Ambulance Service, who said he was urgently diverted to Mr Atkinson’s home in Jesmond with two colleagues.
They found Mr Atkinson in his bathroom “in the tripod position” and breathing extremely quickly, and he was given adrenalin.
The paramedic said: “James was scared throughout.”
He asked “Am I going to die?” Mr Gillespie said.
Dr Jennifer Bolton, a Home Office pathologist, outlined the background to her inquiry into Mr Atkinson’s death and said he was “gasping for air” when the ambulance crew arrived.
By the time he was taken downstairs, he was assessed to have a Glasgow coma score of three, Dr Bolton said, and was “profoundly unconscious”.
Mr Atkinson was taken to Newcastle’s Royal Victoria Infirmary at 8.40pm on July 10 2020 and, despite the efforts of medics to resuscitate him, his death was confirmed at 9.21pm.
Toxicology tests showed he had no alcohol or drugs in his system and so his