Our 9 year old daughter, Nainika Tikoo died as a result of anaphylaxis owing to an allergic reaction to blackberries. On Monday, 22nd May 2017 she was declared brain dead but since her heart was still beating, she was kept on ventilator for a few days. On Thursday, 25th May 2017 we finally had to set her free and take her off the ventilator and life support.
We knew she was allergic to dairy and she had Asthma so we looked after that for the last 9 years. We had only one major incident in these 9 years with a few minor incidents intermittently. She had never eaten blackberries before and somehow on Saturday 20th May 2017 morning she wanted to eat blackberries and asked Dad to put them in pancakes. Both were busy making dairy free pancakes not knowing what lay ahead. Having taken one bite of the pancake, she immediately reacted and within minutes despite immediate medical attention at home - Epipen and also the paramedics having arrived within 5-7 minutes of the incident, she passed out turning completely blue. She lost her pulse, breathing and had a cardiac arrest. For over an hour, there was no oxygen supply to the brain that caused irreversible damage to it and ultimately resulted in her death.
A nightmare we will live and relive every single moment of our lives remaining. Having had the opportunity to discuss in detail the incident and her case history with the allergist, we are saddened to note that one in 3 children are Allergy sufferers in the UK. Every single one of them is susceptible to severe allergic reaction to something else and potential death. Both Vinod (Nainika's Dad) and I (Nainika's Mum) are very shaken by this horrible incident and would like to make our little contribution to support research and work done on allergy care in the UK. So much remains to be desired in this space and there are many lacunae in the primary care, institutional support including at schools, day care centres, child minder settings, disconnect between primary care and specialist support for allergy sufferers, no progressive care plan for allergy sufferers, near absence of adequate awareness on low profile allergies and much more. Vinod and I have set up a justgiving page to request for donations to contribute to supporting allergy care, research and awareness building towards allergies in children. Whilst a small donation will be greatly appreciated, more importantly, we look forward to everyone’s support in helping build awareness about allergies in children. We hope that this shocking incident that has shaken millions will be able to bring sharp focus on severity of allergies in children and perhaps may be able to save lives!
Link to the fundraising appeal: https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/Nainika
For more information, people are welcome to write to us on: [email protected]
We have decided to set up a Trust dedicated to Nainika – “Nainika Tikoo Memorial Trust for Allergy Care” to help support work in the field of allergy awareness and asthmatic research.
Thank you,
Nainika’s Mum & Dad
