He bites into a slice of pizza, realizes something is wrong and dies a few minutes later

Il meurt juste après avoir croqué dans une pizza. (illustration) Daniel Lee sur Unsplash

En 2020, un jeune homme de 23 ans décède à Newcastle alors qu'il venait à peine de croquer dans une pizza commandée sur la plateforme Deliveroo. Près de trois ans après, l'enquête se poursuit.

The fatal meal. James Atkinson was a computer science graduate and lived in a house he shared with his friends in Newcastle. But the 23-year-old died suddenly on July 10, 2020 while eating pizza. He had been allergic to peanuts for around ten years and wanted to be very “conscientious”, but that wasn't enough, explains The Mirror.

"I'm going to die"

What should have been an ordinary evening with friends turns into a nightmare. James and his friends decide to order pizzas on Déliverro but things don't go as planned. Barely after biting into it, the young graduate quickly senses that something is wrong.

Indeed, the latter shows the symptoms of a very severe allergic reaction. Although the emergency services were notified very quickly, as soon as they arrived, James said a few words to them. "I'm going to die", he whispered. These statements are all the more alarming because we understand that the young person is aware of the fate that awaits him. Despite multiple resuscitation attempts, James dies.

Security protocols called into question

Analyses are then carried out to find out if anything could have altered his judgment and be less vigilant about the ingredients he eats. But no, none of that, no drugs and no alcohol in his system, said a pathologist who testified during the investigation. But the presence of peanuts in pizzas has been noted.

If the young man's parents deplore his death. "He was loving, kind and caring. James' sudden death has left an insurmountable hole in our hearts. He had a whole life ahead of him, full of future projects and dreams that will not come true, emphasizes one of the members, quoted by Closer.

However, the investigation which was supposed to last only two weeks is still continuing. The latter also raised questions regarding food safety protocols but also allergen information on the Deliveroo platform.