- Friday, April 26, 2024
Shiv Mistry was due to join the University of Cambridge to study medicine
By: Chandrashekar Bhat
A talented British Indian student died after his allergic reaction to pina colada while holidaying in Spain, an inquest heard.
Shiv Mistry, 18, who was due to join the University of Cambridge to study medicine, was with his friends in the Costa del Sol on July 8 when he sipped the cocktail which had cow cream instead of coconut cream.
But the teenager, who was allergic to dairy products, suffered an anaphylactic shock. He was airlifted to a hospital but he could not be revived despite the best efforts of the doctors.
Mistry studied at High Wycombe’s Royal Grammar School which described him as a “wonderful lad – kind, caring, humorous and very able”.
His parents said in a statement during the inquest that their son’s “courageous” friends deserved praise for doing “everything possible to save his life”.
The statement, read by assistant coroner Ian Wade, said: “Shiv was out with friends in a local pub in Fuengirola, Spain, near their apartment. He had a sip of Pina Colada and it transpired that the coconut cream was replaced with cream. He wasn’t drinking as such – he had taken a sip of a friend’s drink and passed it onto others.
“He recognised immediately that he had consumed something with milk and he made his way back to the apartment. He was sweaty, hyperventilating and took cetirizine, a powerful antihistamine. He went to the bathroom to vomit. He was weak and dazed and requested a friend to call the emergency services.
“He then requested an EpiPen and an inhaler. His other friends arrived and one left to guide emergency services to the room. Each gasp was longer apart until his breathing stopped. They gave him CPR for 20 minutes and someone called his parents on WhatsApp to tell them what had happened. They said to apply a second EpiPen. Emergency services arrived and they used a defibrillator.”
The statement detailed how the student was taken by air ambulance to the Costa Del Sol Hospital where he was pronounced brain stem dead on July 8.
Mistry’s father Judgish said after the hearing that the family received a letter of condolences from Clare College at Cambridge University where his “extremely talented” son was due to study medicine.
A GoFundMe page, dedicated to raising funds for Anaphylaxis UK, said Mistry “has lived with a dairy allergy since he was a little boy.”
More than £11,000 was donated on the online crowdfunding platform to help anaphylaxis, which far exceeded the initial target of £1,000.
