A 13-year-old boy with a severe dairy allergy died after a schoolmate allegedly chased him with cheese and threw it down his T-shirt, an inquest has heard.
Karanbir Cheema, from Greenford, west London, suffered a “serious allergic reaction” and was left “gasping for air”, ITV News reports. After going into anaphylactic shock, he fell unconscious and was rushed to hospital by paramedics, where he died ten days later.
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Police later arrested another boy on suspicion of attempted murder. However, no charges have been brought against the boy, who was also 13 when the incident occurred, in June last year, at Greenford’s William Perkin Church of England school.
St Pancras Coroners’ Court yesterday heard from paramedic Kierin Oppatt, who was first on the scene after school staff called 999, says The Daily Telegraph.
Oppatt said that after seeing Karan, “I immediately knew it was life threatening and that the patient had a high risk of going into cardiac and respiratory arrest”.
“I was in the process of drawing up inter-muscular adrenaline when I was informed by my colleague that Karan had stopped breathing,” he continued.
Karan’s mother, Rina Cheema, 52, was at the inquest with his two brothers and sisters. Speaking outside the court, Cheema, an accountant, said: “We want answers. I am devastated as a mother after losing my son and my family have lost their brother. He was a very, very bright young boy.
“He was so bright he could have been anything he wanted. I brought him up by myself. I trained him to read all about his condition.”
A family member, who wished to remain anonymous, said: “I’ve never met anyone like him in my life. He would have done anything for anyone. He could have been anything.”