Shante Turay-Thomas inquest: ‘I’m going to die’ girl told mother

A teenage girl told her mother “I’m going to die” as she succumbed to a suspected allergic reaction, an inquest into her death heard.

Shante Turay-Thomas, 18, died in September 2018 after eating food thought to have contained hazelnuts at her home in Wood Green, north London.

An ambulance took over an hour to arrive and her adrenaline pen failed, St Pancras Coroner’s Court heard.

“Shante’s death has left a hole in our family,” her mother said.

Emma Turay, 46, described how her daughter quickly “fell unconscious” and “her lips turned blue and she started to have a seizure” on the night of 14 September.

‘My chest hurts’

The inquest heard how Ms Turay spent several minutes on the phone to the NHS’s non-emergency 111 service.

A transcript of the phone call was read to coroner Mary Hassell.

Ms Turay-Thomas could be heard in the background telling her mother: “My chest hurts, my throat is closing and I feel like I’m going to pass out.”

The student then asked her mother to check how long the ambulance would be, before adding: “I’m going to die.”

Ms Turay-Thomas’s condition deteriorated after her Emerade adrenaline auto-injector pen (AAI) did not work despite her trying twice, the inquest heard.

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An ambulance was sent to a wrong address six miles away and it took almost an hour for another to arrive, having initially been assigned a category three response – which has a two-hour response time.

The teenager was eventually taken to hospital but died within hours.

Ms Turay said she was so traumatised by her daughter’s death she has been unable to return to the family home.

The inquest is expected to last for three days.

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