MALAGA YOUTH DIES AT CHRISTMAS DINNER

News

Michael Coy / 2009-12-23 13:45:22

The 20-year-old suffers anaphylactic shock after tasting a flan. The tragedy happened on Friday 18 December at his firm’s Christmas Dinner.

It should have been a joyous occasion for the 26 work colleagues, but the celebratory lunch in a restaurant in Malaga’s Avenida Ortega y Gasset turned into a tragedy.

A company specialising in pest control was holding its annual Christmas meal when one young man, who had an allergy to nuts, sampled a flan which contained almonds. He went into an extreme allergic reaction, and died almost immediately.

The lunch went without incident until the dessert course. A young woman who worked with the deceased and was aware of his allergy warned him against trying the flan. For reasons of his own, he disregarded the advice – with lethal consequences. According to witness statements, the young man told his friend that he had to avoid hazel-nuts, chocolate and bananas, but that he “was sure he could handle other kinds of nut”.

After just a single spoonful of the flan, the young man collapsed. He suffered immediate breathing difficulties and quickly lost consciousness. As soon as he saw what was happening, the owner of the restaurant dialed 061, but the victim was dead before emergency services could reach the scene.

In Spain, when a sudden death occurs, a magistrate is placed in control of the scene and the evidence, and the body is removed to a forensic facility. The young man’s remains were transferred to the Malaga Institute of Legal Medicine, where an autopsy was carried out on Saturday. The magistrate (the equivalent of an English coroner) announced later that the cause of death was “severe allergic reaction”.

What is Anaphylactic Shock?
The ailment which killed the young man is an “over-reaction” on the part of the body’s immune system. When the sufferers inhales, swallows or injects a substance to which he is vulnerable, the immune system tries to protect the body but produces far too much histamine, causing a disastrous drop in blood pressure.