The mother of a nine-year-old girl who became the first person in the UK to have air pollution cited on their death certificate will receive an undisclosed settlement from the government in compensation for her daughter’s untimely death.
Settling a legal case, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), the Department for Transport and the Department of Health and Social Care issued a statement expressing sincere condolences to the family of Ella Adoo-Kissi-Debrah, from south-east London, who had a fatal asthma attack in 2013 after being exposed to excessive air pollution.
In an inquest in 2020, a coroner ruled that exposure to air pollution had “made a material contribution” to her death. Rosamund Adoo-Kissi-Debrah has been campaigning to raise awareness of the dangers of air pollution, and issued legal proceedings against the three government departments earlier this year for compensation for personal injury arising from the illness and premature death of her daughter.
The statement from ministers with the three departments reads: “On behalf of the government departments who were party to the claim, we again take this opportunity to say we are truly sorry for your loss and to express our sincerest condolences to you as Ella’s mother, to her siblings, and to everyone who knew her.
“Your words, both in this litigation and in your public campaigning, have made a considerable impact.
“Young children like Ella should not have to suffer because of our air. We are grateful to you for your tireless work, and we very much hope that, working together in the years to come, more can be achieved in improving not only the quality of the air we breathe, but also in raising awareness of the health implications of air pollution.”
Ella’s family lived about 25 metres from the busy South Circular Road in south London and Ella regularly walked by it on her way to and from school. She developed asthma shortly before her seventh birthday and over the next two years was admitted to hospital 27 times after repeated seizures. She had the fatal asthma attack a few weeks after her ninth birthday.
Medical staff had not identified air pollution as a potential cause of her ill-health before her death. Her mother later said moving “would have been the first thing” the family would have done if they had known the risks that air pollution posed to Ella.
Adoo-Kissi-Debrah and Ella’s two younger siblings met the Defra minister Emma Hardy on Thursday and told her she would continue to campaign for tighter air pollution legislation, aiming for Ella’s law to be approved, which would force the government to adopt a target to cut PM2.5 particulate pollution to 10 micrograms a cubic metre by 2030, 10 years sooner than its current commitment.
Hardy read the government’s condolence letter to Adoo-Kissi-Debrah and Ella’s brother and sister. “It’s important to them to hear it and to know that Ella’s name is still being discussed,” Adoo-Kissi-Debrah said, adding that taking the civil case had been emotionally exhausting for the whole family.
“I have been fighting for justice for Ella for over 14 years. Firstly, to find out what was making her so severely ill, and secondly to raise awareness about the dangers of air pollution,” she said.
“Nothing will ever make up for the pain and suffering that Ella went through, or for the trauma of losing a beloved daughter and sister at such a young age. The loss to our family is immeasurable.
“I believe every child has a right to breathe clean air, no matter where they live, their ethnic background or their economic status. Ella’s story has been a force for change and I will continue to use her legacy to hold authorities to account.”
In documents at the start of the case, the government’s legal team said Adoo-Kissi-Debrah’s lawyers had estimated the claim to be worth £293,156, but the government considered the maximum the claim could be worth was £30,000 if successful.
The family’s lawyer, Ruth Waters-Falk with Hodge Jones & Allen, said: “This brings to a close a lengthy legal battle with the government for its failure to save Ella’s life. This is the first time there has been government recognition that children shouldn’t be suffering because of poor air quality. This was never about money. It has always been about holding the government to account.”
