Mum describes moment daughter suffered fatal allergic reaction from frozen dinner
A mother whose daughter tragically died from a severe allergic reaction has told of the horrific moment as she campaigns to prevent further deaths.
Jess North, who was just 20 years old, died after unknowingly eating a food that contained nuts which triggered a fatal anaphylactic reaction.
Speaking for the first time publicly since the loss of her daughter, Jess's mother Maxine described the devastating evening at their Aldingbourne home: 'Our world fell apart on Sunday 9th May 2021.
"I was 20 minutes from dishing up the Sunday roast when Jess decided that she didn't want the meat that was on the menu.
(Image: Maxine North)
"The kitchen was a hive of activity, so I asked her to look in the freezer to see if there was something that she could have in its place.
"She pulled out a pre-made shop bought sweet potato dish saying that she had it before."
Jess had a peanut allergy. Tragically the dish did contain nuts but as Jess had eaten it before she thought it was ok.
Maxine added: "Once seated for dinner Jess took a couple of mouthfuls of the sweet potato and said she didn't like it, pushed it to one side and ate the vegetables.
"She ate quickly as she was going out to meet a friend for the evening which she was looking forward to.
"She went upstairs, gathered her things, kissed me and her father goodbye and drove off.
"Within 10 minutes I received a phone call from Jess saying that she was having difficulty breathing.
(Image: Maxine North)
"The fear in her voice triggered something inside me and I knew that she was having an allergic reaction.
"She was near Arundel on the A27, so I told her to pull over and administer her epipen, something she had never done before, but she knew how to use it.
"Once administered I told her to dial 999, as they would be able to locate her exact position through her phone.
"It takes about 8 minutes to get to Arundel from our home, I have no recollection of how my husband and I got there.
"It's a complete blur. En route we also dialled the emergency services but had no idea where her location was.
"They told us that an ambulance had been dispatched to an emergency in Arundel, but they couldn't say what or who it was for.
(Image: Maxine North)
"In the meantime, Jess managed to pull into a side road where somebody saw her from their window struggling and went out to help.
"The person thought she was having an asthma attack and rushed to get their inhaler. Once the person returned, Jess motioned towards her epipens.
"She was disoriented so the person took charge of the epipen and administered it into Jess' arm when in fact it should have gone into her thigh.
"When we arrived on the scene the paramedics were there.
"A scene I will never forget. Jess was taken to St Richards in Chichester.
"We had to wait for what seemed like an eternity while they stabilized Jess. She had stopped breathing twice on-route.
"For the first 3 days she was on life support.
"On the third day they performed an MRI scan to determine what was going on.
"That evening we were told that she was fine, but they couldn't reassure us what damage had been done until she woke up.
"The next day they slowly began to withdraw the medication for Jess to wake up, but they soon became concerned as she wasn't showing any signs of doing so.
"Another MRI scan was performed at the bedside, and we were told later that day that in fact there was no brain activity.
"I can't remember much from that point, all I knew was my beautiful baby had gone and our life had changed forever."
Jess's parents were then told by doctors there was nothing more they could do.
Maxine said the loss of Jess has deeply affected everyone who knew and described Jess as someone who 'always championed the underdog'.
Despite living with the severe allergy throughout her life, Jess never allowed it to define her, her mother said.
Maxine emphasised that Jess faced this challenge with remarkable resilience.
She explained: 'It is always a worry, any allergy parent will tell you that.
'But it did not define us, but we would always ask for an allergen list and would be extremely careful but we still lived life.
"We went away to places like Thailand, and it was ok."
After experiencing first hand the devastating impact of severe allergies, Maxine has become an advocate for allergy awareness.
Over the past few years, Maxine has not only raised funds to drive change but has also implemented it within her own community.
Upon discovering that many allergy sufferers lacked access to up to date EpiPens, she reached out to her GP to explore solutions and prevent such situations in the future.
Maxine said: 'My GP has now started sending alerts to patients with severe allergies.
'Jess had a junior EpiPen instead of an adult EpiPen.
(Image: Maxine North) 'They now contact people each year to make sure their EpiPens are up to date, sending them an alert.
As well as driving change locally - Maxine has dedicated herself to raising funds for charities that advocate for better allergy education and policy change, in particular The Natasha Allergy Foundation also known as NARFS.
To further her mission, this July Maxine is undertaking an abseil down the Peacehaven Cliffs.
Proceeds from the abseil will support NARF, as well as the installation of Kitt Medical Devices which are life-saving anaphylaxis treatment systems in schools and public spaces.
These devices ensure that emergency allergy medication is readily available, potentially saving lives in critical situations.
A link to Maxine's upcoming abseil fundraiser can be found here : https://www.gofundme.com/f/jesss-smile
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