Mom-of-five dies after allergic reaction to wrap that should have been 'vegan': "You need to phone an ambulance"

A dental nurse from Wiltshire died after a serious allergic reaction to a Pret a Manger wrap that should have been vegan. 42-year-old Celia Marsh collapsed after eating a super-veg rainbow flatbread from the sandwich chain's store in Bath, Somerset. Just months before her death she had a near-fatal allergic reaction and since then had "religiously avoided" all dairy products, Avon Coroner’s Court was told during an inquest, reports Manchester Evening News. The mother-of-five died after traces of dairy protein were found in the wrap's supposedly "vegan" yogurt. 

Celia Marsh was on a shopping trip with her three daughters and her husband when the tragic incident took place. Andy Marsh said his wife had begun to feel "a bit funny" after eating the wrap. "We started walking down the narrow side street by the Gap store and Celia had her asthma inhaler out. She used it a couple of times and I asked her if she was OK. She said she was struggling to breathe but it may be because of the cold air. We then moved to a small side street on the left and I pulled her to one side. She had her Epipen in her hand and I said to her that if she thought there was any chance she was having a reaction that she should just do it and use the pen as it doesn’t matter," he said. "She then said to me 'You need to phone an ambulance'," he added. After calling emergency services his wife collapsed and an off-duty GP stepped in to help. "They took Celia away in an ambulance but I had my children with me so could not go in the ambulance with her to the hospital," he said, describing the terrifying scene. "I was really in shock so it took a short time before I was able to drive up to the hospital in my car."

According to Yahoo News UK, Celia had gone into acute anaphylactic shock. She bought the wrap by around 2 pm and died two hours later. Brendan Turvey went to help Celia after she fell onto the ground and called the scene "disturbing." A big crowd had formed and as she lay dying in the street customers continued to be served at Pret a Manger. One of the paramedics Shawn Eyles who rushed to the scene said some shoppers stepped over Celia as she was being treated.

Celia's family is now calling for stricter rules surrounding food labeling so that no other family has to go through what they went through. According to ITV News, The 51-year-old who married Celia in 2007 and described his wife as his best friend said, “Celia meant the world to us all. She could brighten up your worst days with just one smile. She would look at you with her blue eyes and you just felt better. She was a great mum. We were best friends. People could tell we were in love by just sitting in the same room as us and us not saying a word to each other. Any manufacturer who makes something that is then labelled ‘free from’ has to take the responsibility for the testing to make sure it is exactly that. I want to see testing at every stage of the process to make sure nothing gets through the cracks and to provide a safety net."

Cover Image Source: YouTube | GBNews