Student with nut allergy died four years after 'catastrophic' anaphylactic shock
Tania Kaur Khasriya suffered a hypoxic brain injury which left her unable to communicate after eating a dish at Indian restaurant Mehfil in Southall, west London, which contained nuts.
A student with a severe nut allergy died four years after suffering a “catastrophic” anaphylactic shock at her brother's wedding banquet, an inquest heard.
Tania Kaur Khasriya suffered a hypoxic brain injury which left her unable to communicate after eating a dish at Indian restaurant Mehfil in Southall, west London, which contained nuts.
The inquest into the 24-year-old's death heard she had her palliative care withdrawn with the consent of her family after doctors deemed her to have no quality of life – four years after being taken ill, which caused her vegetative state.
Khasriya, from Ealing, west London, spent her last years at the Chalfont Lodge nursing centre in Buckinghamshire, where she received round-the-clock care.
Though her grieving family claimed they told the Mehfil about Khasriya’s severe nut allergies, the restaurant disputed ever having been told and produced the booking form which made no mention of her allergies.
The inquest heard she was admitted to Chalfont Lodge, a nursing centre in Buckinghamshire purpose-built to help people with neurological conditions, physical disabilities and dementia, in June 2019.
Statements from medical professionals caring for at Chalfont Lodge said she “couldn't physically or verbally communicate” any sense of “pain and distress” and it was “unclear” as to whether she could understand anything said to her.
Eventually, the “truly tragic” conclusion that she had “no appreciable quality of life” was made, and her family agreed to have her CANH care – medical treatment to provide food and fluids to patients who cannot eat or drink – “withdrawn”.
Senior coroner Lydia Brown, recording a conclusion of accidental death, said the “distressing” sequence of events at her brother's wedding banquet led to her death.
She said: "Tania had a catastrophic collapse at the wedding banquet of her brother in July 2018.
"On the balance of probabilities, this was in fact an anaphylactic response to a dish with nuts.
"It had not been possible to establish exactly what she ate, but due to the severity of her response, this was indeed an anaphylactic response to her exposure.
"This was clearly an unwanted and unexpected outcome to what was meant to have been the most joyous of occasions. It is a terrible loss to her family."
