The mother of a teen who died from a Costa drink has revealed that one thing continuously causes her sleepless nights.
The mother of a young girl who passed away after consuming a drink from Costa Coffee reveals the haunting thought that troubles her during the night.
Abimbola’s daughter died after consuming Costa drink
Abimbola Duyile’s life changed drastically after her daughter, Hannah Jacobs, died in February 2023.
The pain and sadness of losing her daughter have deeply impacted every aspect of her daily life.
Hannah, a 13-year-old with a dairy allergy, tragically passed away after drinking a soya hot chocolate from Costa Coffee in Barking, East London.
The incident occurred despite the drink being advertised as dairy-free.
The young girl passed away due to a cow milk allergy
At a recent inquest at the East London Coroner’s Court, it was found that Hannah’s death resulted from not following allergy protocols.
There was also a breakdown in communication between the staff and her mother.
Abimbola recounted asking for soya milk and clean equipment, but the employee responsible for the drinks disputed this claim.
The investigation suggested that the hot chocolate might have been made with cow’s milk.
Additionally, Abimbola was not shown in the ingredient book that listed the beverage’s composition.
When Hannah had a bad reaction to the drink and said it wasn’t soya milk, her mother took her to a pharmacy.
Hannah lost consciousness before they could get help.
Even though Hannah got an EpiPen for her severe allergy, it wasn’t enough to save her.
A post-mortem examination showed that Hannah died from a severe allergic reaction.
This reaction was caused by an allergen in the hot chocolate.
Mother of teen passing away from Costa drink reveals one thing causing her sleepless nights
In a heartfelt BBC interview, Abimbola expressed her deep regret and doubt.
She wondered if using the EpiPen sooner might have changed what happened.
Abimbola describes her daughter as vibrant and full of life.
She now wonders if carrying an EpiPen herself might have made a crucial difference.
Abimbola is asking the government to help raise awareness about EpiPen use.
She also wants better measures to quickly identify allergic reactions.
She urges eateries to educate customers on allergen risks and improve signage to highlight allergenic ingredients in products.
Social media reactions
On social media, people shared their opinions on the matter
If she’s so highly allergic then she needed to have an epi pen on her at all times. That could’ve saved her life, one user said.
If my kids have an allergy so severe they’ll die I am not going to let them eat food from a restaurant that is easily contaminated without an EpiPen on hand, the second user commented.
My son ended up in hospital because of costa giving him the wrong drink.
We were lucky he survived. This poor girl and her family, the third user said.
Imagine the staff member who created that drink, forever remembered that her drink caused this tragedy, another wrote.