Wigan student Shahida's death was misadventure inquest rules

An inquest has ruled that the death of a Wigan student who suffered an allergic reaction to a chicken burger was '˜misadventure'.
Shahida ShahidShahida Shahid
Shahida Shahid

Manchester Coroner’s Court was told that a “lack of communication” contributed to the death of former Winstanley College student Shahida Shahid.

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Her girls’ night out ended in tragedy when Shahid, 18, from Worsley, suffered a fatal allergic reaction to her meal, begging: “Help me. I can’t breathe, ” the court had heard.

Shahida, who the inquest jury have heard was always careful about what she ate, discussed the menu and her allergies with the waiter at Almost Famous burger restaurant in Manchester city centre, before eating her meal.

But after leaving the restaurant the teenager, studying for a masters at Manchester University, suddenly became seriously unwell from the allergic reaction.

She suffered severe brain damage and died in hospital on January 12, 2015, three days after eating the burger.

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At the conclusion of her inquest, the jury found a “lack of communication” between a server and a chef at the Peter Street restaurant “led Shahida to believe she could eat the meal”.

Another friend Hollie Blaydes said Shahida had previously shown them how to use her epi-pen in case of emergency, and another friend Nahla Halabi, jabbed her with the device in the right upper thigh over her clothes to deliver the medicine.

However the epi-pen, which the inquest heard was “just” out of date, did not have any effect.

Security guards working at the venue, Imran Farooqi and Avais Ali, then came over to help.

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Mr Farooqi said Shahida’s face and neck became swollen and he thought she had suffered an anaphylactic shock.

He said: “Her face was going purple, she was scratching herself vigorously.

“I grabbed hold of her and I heard a, Help’ sort of thing come out. We tried everything we could do for this young girl.”

Shahida was put into recovery position and Mr Ali began CPR, the teenager repeatedly vomiting as Mr Imran continued attempting mouth-to-mouth resuscitation.

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Mr Ali said before Shahida lost consciousness she was asked about a possible allergic reaction.

But Mr Ali said she replied: “That’s not the issue because I clearly told the waiter. It can’t be that.”

He said that shortly after, Shahida said: “Please help me, I’m struggling to breathe.”

An ambulance was called but paramedic Matthew Shenck said Shahida was not breathing and there was no heart activity detected.

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