Girl, 15, collapsed and died in the kitchen of her family home after tiny food particles got into her lungs during dinner hours earlier, inquest hears
- Abby Reese Beaumont aspirated on a ‘foreign body’ at her home in North Wales
- The teenager had made herself a dinner a few hours earlier on April 2
- Coroner today stressed the tragedy had not been caused by her choking
A 15-year-old girl collapsed and died in the kitchen of her family home after food particles got into her lungs during dinner obstructing her lung capacity, an inquest heard today.
Abby Reese Beaumont aspirated on a ‘foreign body’ at her home in Mold, North Wales on April 2.
The teenager had made herself a dinner a few hours earlier and had gone to her room.
A few hours later Abby started to cough and made her way downstairs to the kitchen, before calling for her mother to come and help her.
Abby Reese Beaumont (pictured above) aspirated on a ‘foreign body’ at her home in Mold, North Wales on April 2
Abby (pictured above) died after her lung bled because of an obstruction of smaller airways by food particles
She collapsed on the kitchen floor and her sister rushed to get help from their neighbours who are Accident and Emergency doctors.
An inquest in Mold today recorded a conclusion of accidental death and coroner John Gittins stressed the tragedy had not been caused by choking.
He said the teenager had been coughing and feeling sick and that something going the wrong way in the body and had triggered the tragic reaction.
He told the teenager’s parents Darren, 51, a businessman, and Alison, 47 : ‘I can’t begin to adequately express my condolences for the loss of Abby. This was just an awful, awful event which befell you in relation to the loss of a lovely daughter.
Abby (pictured above) was described as being ‘full of love’ and ‘loved trips to America
‘She was a girl very cared for and loved. It’s a very, very tragic scenario that befell you.’
Paediatric pathologist Dr Rajeev Shukla, of Alder Hey children’s hospital in Liverpool, suggested her lung bled because of obstruction of smaller airways by food particles.
Mr Gittins added : ‘I don’t regard this as choking.’
Abby’s father Mr Beaumont said coughing had been heard late at night but it was ‘nothing out of the ordinary.’
His daughter came downstairs and coughed again. She made her way to the kitchen before collapsing.
Mr Beaumont found her on the floor, blood coming from her mouth. ‘She was still alive but struggling to breathe,’ he recalled.
Another daughter rushed to get help from neighbours who were A&E doctors and some in the military.
A paramedic car, ambulance and police also attended and the youngster was rushed to a hospital in Wrexham.
But the coroner said the evidence supported the parents’ view that she died at home despite the frantic efforts to save Abby.
‘We have always maintained she died at home,’ Mr Beaumont said.
Paramedic Jon Cross said Abby had been ‘flatlining’ despite attempts to save her and there had been extensive blood loss.
Mrs Beaumont said paramedics had ‘tried their best’.
Mr Beaumont said the youngster had been ‘full of life’ and loved trips to America. He said she had died in a sudden ‘freak’ accident.
She had come home from school that day ‘perfectly healthy.’
‘I was there in a flash,’ he explained about her last moments. ‘Unfortunately there was nothing that could have been done to save her.’
Mr Gittins said meat, probably chicken, entered Abby’s airways, leading to