A boy of nine who was allergic to some types of fish died after eating fish fingers for his school dinner, an inquest heard. Mohammed Ismaeel Ashraf suffered a suspected allergic reaction and collapsed at Al-Hijrah School.
Birmingham Coroner’s Court heard the school was aware of his dietary restrictions – but none of the canteen staff were believed to have read a care plan outlining what to do should he fall ill. He also wore a lanyard outling his allergies but catering manager Deborah Park, of contractor Caterlink, said staff only knew that he could not eat dairy products.
Mohammed, who was known as Ismaeel, had regularly eaten fish and chips and had never suffered a reaction and died at Heartlands Hospital after falling ill at school on March 3. The inquest heard audio of a 999 call during which the operator was told by school staff that they were having difficulty finding his EpiPen adrenaline pen. Birmingham coroner Louise Hunt told the jury how the delay in giving him his EpiPen was central to how Ismaeel died.
