- Wednesday, June 29, 2022
By: Keerthi Mohan
MOTHER of a boy who was killed after cheese was thrown at him wants pupils to understand that an allergy can kill.
Rina Cheema’s son Karanbir died following an anaphylactic reaction after cheese was flicked at him by another pupil at break time at his school in Greenford, West London.
Speaking to the BBC about his death she said: “I live in a black hole. Angry. My life is without my son. It’s something that’s going to haunt me for the rest of mt life.”
She continued: “I sent him to a place where I thought he’d be safe, only to find out nobody knew what they were doing.
“If they knew that allergies causes problems – it’s no harm giving him an EpiPen. They could have given him an EpiPen.
“Or even dialed 999 straight away. He would be here with me today.”
Karanbir was severely allergic to wheat, gluten, all dairy products, eggs and all nuts and eggs, and was also asthmatic.
When the incident happened, in 2017, Karanbir went straight to the school office where he was given his asthma inhaler and an antihistamine.
When his condition started deteriorating, his adrenaline pen was used. However, it was out of date and a back-up was not in place.
The school immediately called an ambulance. Paramedics arrived at Karanbir’s side half an hour after he had alerted staff, and he went into cardiac arrest.
He died 11 days later in hospital.
Urging people not to take an allergy as a joke, Rina said: “That’s why I keep on saying to everybody: ‘Please take allergies seriously.’
“Because it costs lives and again it has cost lives.”
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