Girl, 13, died after sip of Costa hot chocolate, inquest hears

A 13-year-old girl with a severe dairy allergy suffered an “immediate reaction” after a sip of a Costa Coffee hot chocolate that should have been made with soya, an inquest has heard.

Hannah Jacobs, of Barking, east London, was allergic to dairy products and had opted for “complete avoidance” since she was a toddler. She died within hours of having the takeaway drink that her mother, Abimbola Duyile, had ordered on 8 February 2022.

“I made sure that the staff [were] aware that this was not a joke,” Duyile told the East London coroner’s court on Monday, adding that she had been “extra picky” and specific about the order and that she “might sound like a crazy mum”.

Duyile said she needed “to be straight with the staff” before the drink was made, she explained, adding that the server agreed that the jug would be cleaned due to Hanna’s severe allergy to cow’s milk. At that point, “Hannah was busy telling me off for being so picky,” she added.

After arriving at the dentist a short walk away, Hannah abruptly got up and went to the toilet, shouting, “That was not soya milk,” Duyile recalled. She said her daughter’s reaction “happened quickly” as she was coughing up phlegm and complained of chest pains. Hannah was rushed to a nearby chemist as her lips and mouth were swollen, and her daughter was itchy.

“My initial response was of anger to the Costa Coffee staff,” said Duyile. “It gave way to terror.”

At the chemist, a pharmacist gave Hannah an EpiPen injection in her leg after she collapsed, the court heard. Attempts to resuscitate were started and later continued by paramedics who arrived soon after being called by a customer. Hannah was taken to hospital and declared dead by 1pm, according to her family’s lawyers.

Duyile said her daughter had avoided eating milk, eggs, wheat and fish to manage her allergies and was “diligent” about what she ate away from home. Hannah understood that “managing her allergies was just part of life”, Duyile said, adding that her daughter never ate at a friend’s house and only at “known and trusted” restaurants.

Receiving an early dose of adrenaline could have been key to Hannah’s treatment, and since she weighed 7st 5lb (47kg) and was a teenager, she would have needed more than 150mcg, the court heard. Dr Rahul Chodhari, who had been involved in the management of Hannah’s allergies, said that while it was hard to predict, “150mcg was certainly too small a dose to be given”.

When asked by the coroner whether Hannah would have survived if she had received an intramuscular adrenaline injection within the nine minutes of consuming the drink and leaving the dentist, Dr Chodhari said: “Yes.”

“She would have made a great lawyer,” said Duyile in tribute to her daughter. “[She] had a strong sense of right and wrong. If she thought something was unfair, she would speak her mind no matter what.”

She recalled how Hannah would clean the house without asking and looked after her sister. On her sister’s birthday, Duyile recalled, Hannah put on latex gloves to cook her sister eggs as a surprise, despite Hannah’s allergy.

“I know that she would have achieved anything she set her mind to. I loved my child so much and my heart is broken,” said Duyile.

The inquest is due to last six days.