9-year-old with allergies died after eating fish at school canteen

A nine-year-old boy in the UK died shortly after eating fish fingers at school, an inquest has heard.

Ismaeel Ashraf was allergic to dairy products, kiwi fruit and nuts. Notes at his school also indicated that he had an intolerance to fish, though his father told the inquest that the boy had eaten white fish on several occasions without suffering a reaction. His allergies, including a fish allergy, were registered in a book at his school in Birmingham but catering staff admitted they hadn't read the book. The boy ordered fish fingers, which contained pollock, and chips at the school canteen, reports Metro.

"About five pupils wore badges showing their allergies, one of them was Ismaeel but over time the pupils stopped wearing their badges but we already knew what they were," said kitchen assistant Jemma Sheedy "There’s a red book which has people’s allergies in by the counter. But I’ve never looked at Ismaeel’s. "I asked the chef if the allergy boys could have the fish fingers. I was told they could. I was leaving school when told by a colleague Ismaeel had an allergic reaction to fish. "When we looked in the book later we were shocked to see Ismaeel was allergic to fish."

He complained of a sick stomach later in the afternoon and was given an anti-histamine tablet. The school phoned 999 and in a recording from the call, the operator can be heard asking if the school had an epipen. The member of staff on the call told the operator that they were "looking for it." Ismaeel was taken to hospital where he later died. The inquest also heard that Ismaeel had attended Birmingham Children's Hospital in the days before his death, having become unwell with a suspected viral illness. He went back to school two days before he died. The inquest is expected to last three or four more days, according to The BBC.   Feature image via iStock.