A British teen is lucky to be alive after experiencing a severe allergic reaction to nuts another passenger was eating on her flight.
Joanna Jones and her 14-year-old daughter Poppy were traveling back to England from the Caribbean island nation of Antigua on a British Airways flight. They had been vacationing there with other members of their family on their first trip since the lockdown ended.
Aware of Poppy’s allergy, the cabin crew asked passengers numerous times not to eat nuts on the flight. However, upon take-off Joanna saw a man 10 rows in front of them doing just that.
“I was worried and asked if we could be moved but there was no availability and the crew asked him to stop eating the nuts but he ignored the requests and carried on,” Joanna said in an interview with Mail Online.
About five hours into the eight-hour flight, Poppy began having an allergic reaction to the nuts. She went into anaphylaxis and blacked out. Her mother gave her two EpiPen shots and a nurse on board came forth to help stabilize Poppy.
Doctors from an Arizona emergency center gave instructions on how to help her. Poppy was given oxygen and upon landing at Gatwick Airport, was rushed to the hospital.
Now, Joanna is calling for a new law that would make it illegal for passengers to eat nuts on planes on which passengers with nut allergies are traveling. She says the man did not care that he put her daughter’s life in danger.
“It was a nightmare for all of us and I really thought she might die. It was really, really frightening and it was all down to a passenger who carried on eating nuts despite at least two announcements not to.”
“Surely someone’s life is worth more than eating a few nuts? It’s crazy that more isn’t being done about this issue. All the cabin crew can do is ask someone not to eat nuts and that’s it – it’s ridiculous.”
Related: American Airlines To Allow Passengers With Nut Allergies To Board Flights First
