Uncategorised3 min(s) read
Uncategorised3 min(s) read
uk2 min(s) read
Lily King, an 18-year-old student from Buckinghamshire, tragically passed away after suffering a fatal allergic reaction during a family holiday in Morocco.
On the trip, which was meant to celebrate Lily completing her first year of an economics degree, the teenager ate a small piece of carrot at a restaurant in Rabat.
Although she had a history of severe allergies, it was this tiny bite of food that triggered the deadly reaction.
Lily's mother, Aicha, recalled the heartbreaking final moments to the Daily Mail. "She said, 'You know Mum, I love you. I'm sorry. Goodbye,'" Aicha said. "And she collapsed in my arms."
Despite quickly taking an antihistamine and using her EpiPen, Lily's condition deteriorated rapidly. She suffered from anaphylaxis, which led to a cardio-respiratory arrest. She passed away four days later in the hospital.
Lily had been diagnosed with multiple severe allergies at the age of two-and-a-half, including to fish, seafood, nuts, sesame, milk, and eggs. Throughout her life, her family was extremely careful with her diet, with Aicha preparing all her meals and even bringing food from home during trips.
However, on this occasion, the restaurant in Morocco served Lily a dish that contained vegetables and a sauce that had not been requested, leading to the fatal exposure.
Aicha, who speaks fluent Arabic, was able to communicate with the staff, but she struggled to ensure her daughter received the necessary care. "Neither the waiter nor any of the doctors spoke English. Without Arabic, it would have been impossible to make myself understood," Aicha said. "It is my mother tongue and yet I still couldn't get the care Lily needed."
The tragedy has led Lily’s parents, Aicha and Michael, to warn others about the potential dangers of eating out while traveling, especially in countries where food regulations may differ from those in the UK.
Michael, reflecting on their past experiences, said: “Before then, we didn't think her allergies were life-threatening. This one could have killed her. It changed everything.”
Aicha described her daughter as her "best friend, my everything," and now says that without Lily, "our life is nothing."
The family’s focus has now shifted to raising awareness about severe food allergies, especially for those traveling abroad, where language barriers and cultural differences can make securing safe food options difficult.
celebrity3 min(s) read
Jada Pinkett Smith sat down with the mother of a 12-year-old girl who took her own life after being bullied for her alopecia at school.
On the latest episode of Red Table Talk that aired on Wednesday (June 1) Pinkett Smith, 50, along with her daughter Willow Smith, 21, and her mother Adrienne Banfield-Norris, 68, spoke with Niki Ball, the mother of a 12-year-old daughter who also suffered from alopecia.
Ball's daughter Rio was severely bullied over her hair loss and unfortunately died by suicide in March.
Her mother explained that Rio started to develop alopecia at home early during the pandemic. It started with a bald spot on her head, and then soon Rio's hair started to fall out "by the handful," leading to an alopecia diagnosis.
"With the hair loss, she was so strong," Ball said about Rio in an exclusive clip. "She still rocked it even when it was falling out, and she just had these big bald patches. Tried the creams. They made her break out. Tried the injections, she took five of them in one day. But neither of them really did anything."
The mother said that her daughter asked, "can we just shave my head?" so the family did, and "she glowed."
"And then with school coming up, we got her that super cute wig, she loved it, and she glowed then," Ball continues. "But at school, within a couple of weeks, she was like, 'I don't want to wear it anymore, there's no point.'
"She had it ripped off her head. She'd get smacked upside on the head walking down the hallway. And that was within the first two weeks, three weeks. It got really bad for her."
Ball said children at the school called her daughter a "naked mole rat," a "bug-eyed alien" and "Mr. and Mrs. Clean."
Ball also revealed that three weeks before Rio's suicide, her daughter had a "really bad day" at school and "just lost it" when she got in the car to go home. "I knew this was very serious," she added.
Ball had taken the initiative to speak with Rio's teachers and administrators at school and then assured the youngster that she has a very supportive family - an "army of people" on her side.
On March 14, 2022, Rio took her own life as a result of all the torment. Grieving parent Ball said it "was the worst day of my life."
"She was so smart. She was just brilliant," Ball said. "And she was funny. She was a great big sister. She loved reading and writing and sketching. She loved being in the band."
Pinkett Smith was emotional as she listened to Ball and said that Rio's story is one of the reasons why people "need an understanding around the devastation of this condition."
If you or someone you know is in crisis, please reach out for help and contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 800-273-8255, text HOME to 741741, or visit SpeakingOfSuicide.com/resources.
uk2 min(s) read
A mother has opened up about her 12-year-old daughter's crippling fear of eating, claiming her child is "dying before her eyes".
Janine Daw's daughter Grace has reportedly lived with a fear of choking her entire life and struggles to eat anything but crisps, ice-cream and jalapenos.
No solid conclusion has been reached on her condition yet, but doctors have warned "it is only a matter of time before her organs begin to fail".
Speaking to The Sun, Janine claimed Grace's weight had plummeted to "just four stone" and she has to be fed through a tube that goes straight to her stomach called a mic-key, that was fitted when she was just four months old.
The young girl can take up to 40 minutes to eat each mouthful and anything which requires chewing will see her rush to the toilet to throw up.
"Last year I was over the moon because she ate two chocolates from her advent calendar. She's stopped growing because of this," Janine said. "She's incredibly pale and has dark circles around her eyes. She just constantly looks ill. I just feel completely guilty. I've exhausted every avenue. I just feel completely hopeless."
Grace's trouble with eating first started when she was just a newborn, with her instantly throwing up her breast milk and bottle feed.
When her mother raised the alarm with doctors, they discovered that she had ALPACA syndrome, a rare congenital heart defect where the heart doesn't get enough oxygen.
With medical professionals believing this was the reason behind her aversion to food and choking problems, at nine months old, she went through open heart surgery. However, even after the eight-hour operation, she still had no interest in eating.
A number of psychologists have suggested that the 12-year-old suffers from pseudodysphagia, a chronic fear of choking, but no one has come up with a firm solution yet.
In the meantime, doctors have been left unable to remove her food tube as Grace is only able to eat a "palm full of food" per day.
Janine, who has been forced to quit her job to become Grace's full-time carer, said: "We're just not getting the help from professionals. I had a breakdown a couple of years ago because it was all getting a bit much. I'm working tirelessly to help save Grace only to watch her almost dying before my very eyes.
"I'm even studying to become a children's counsellor to try and help. I've had this constant battle for 12 years and I just don't know what to do. It's now escalated from a fear to a genuine mental health issue. It's the only thing she's ever known. If we mention taking out her mic-key she goes hysterical. It's now become so extreme, I've just hit a brick wall."
uk3 min(s) read
A teenager tragically passed away after doctors misdiagnosed her deadly infection as a "boring" virus.
Mia Ginever was only 19 years old when she died at Frimley Park Hospital in Surrey in the United Kingdom after medical professionals failed to identify that she was suffering from a lethal infection.
Instead, she was told that it was just a "boring" virus and was sent home to rest up.
However, the pain continued to get worse as time passed until Mia had no choice but to go back to the hospital with her mom, Mel, and this time, she had the addition of another symptom: Red blotches all over her face.
Speaking to The Times, Mel opened up about how this carelessness impacted Mia as well as her loved ones.
"Mia's whole future has been taken away through no fault of her own. She had so much to give to the world and was just ready to embrace her life," she told the outlet, after her daughter died in 2022.
"We trusted the doctors to make the right decisions. If I had any inclination she was going to die, I would have been screaming," the heartbroken mother added.
When the 19-year-old came in the second time, the first registrar who assessed her failed to carry out any blood tests or administer any antibiotics, as per the Daily Mail.
The only thing Mia was given was pain relief until a new doctor who had just clocked on for their shift did the proper assessments and realized that she was suffering from meningitis B.
Meningitis is a disease that causes severe inflammation that surrounds and protects the brain and spinal cord.
The teen was given some medication to help battle the disease eight hours after she initially arrived for help, but it was no use as it had progressed beyond the point of return.
Mia was put into an induced coma and sadly passed away two days later after being transferred into intensive care.
Now her parents are seeking justice for their "beautiful and vibrant" daughter.
Phil, Mia's father, described the care of his child as "so poor" and described the pain of losing her as ever-ending.
"After she died they let us take her handprints and hair, like a newborn. But then she was all alone. I should've stayed and waited," he admitted.
An investigation into Mia's care was launched and the hospital found that Mia had already developed meningococcal sepsis by the time she arrived at Frimley hospital for the second time.
The Daily Mail reported that Frimley Park hospital also admitted that "doctors did not assess Mia properly for meningitis and sepsis, and that it failed to follow NHS protocol of giving antibiotics within an hour of arriving at hospital for the second time" which ultimately led to her death.
Now the family is suing the hospital for negligence.
Deborah Nadel, a legal director representing the family in the claim stated that Mia's death would have been preventable.
"The pain for Mia's family of learning that her death was preventable by prompt treatment is unimaginable," Nadel said, as per the outlet. "Hospitals need to improve how they learn from mistakes and the family are hoping that the coroner's investigation will highlight this."
Our thoughts are with Mia's loved ones during this difficult time.
world3 min(s) read
The heartbroken parents of a teenage girl who tragically passed away in a "chroming" incident have opened up about their loss.
On March 31, a 13-year-old girl named Esra Haynes took part in the viral trend called "chroming" - which is a harmful and sometimes even fatal mania, particularly among young kids - where chemicals in aerosol cans are inhaled for a temporary high.
According to News.com.au, the Melbourne resident - who was a Year 8 student at Lilydale High School - went into cardiac arrest and sustained irremediable brain damage after inhaling an aerosol deodorant can at a friend’s sleepover.
The young girl's parents, Paul and Andrea, were absolutely shocked by the devastating death of their young daughter and appeared on A Current Affair to speak about the impact of their tragic loss.
Watch Esra's parents' interview with A Current Affair:Esra's parents told host Ally Langdon that prior to the terrible incident, their daughter was just hanging out with her friends, adding that they weren't worried about her because it "wasn’t anything out of the ordinary".
"To get this phone call at that time of night, [it] was one of the calls no parent ever wants to have to receive and we unfortunately got that call: 'Come and get your daughter,'" Paul said. "We’ve got the pictures in our mind which will never be erased, you know, of what we were confronted with."
Paramedics arrived at the scene and worked to revive the "beautiful" Esra before she eventually was rushed to the hospital in an unresponsive state and placed on life support. About eight days later, doctors broke the unfortunate news to her family, revealing that the teen's brain "was damaged beyond repair," so they had to choose whether to turn off the machines.
"They’re asking us to bring family [and] friends to say goodbye to our 13-year-old daughter," Paul told host Ally Langdon during the interview. "It was a very, very difficult thing to do to such a young soul."
Esra's parents and older siblings Imogen, Seth, and Charlie "cuddled her until the end".
The bereaved parents are now calling for more action regarding the viral trend so that other families won't experience the same devastating loss. They want schools to teach young kids CPR and refresh first aid skills every two years, and for aerosol manufacturers to change deodorant formulas so they are safer.
"For me, it’s a pistol sitting on the shelf," Esra's said of the deodorant cans. "We need the manufacturers to step up and really change the formulation or the propellants."
Paul also stated that there should be more awareness about chroming on social media - which he believes is how his daughter learned about the subject - so that they can "lockdown on the loopholes" that children slip through to get access to "adult content".
The Haynes family is also determined to carry on their daughter’s name and spread the word about her death. "We need to talk about it," Paul said. "Her name meant helper so that’s what we’re here to do."