A young student with a severe nut allergy tragically died four years after suffering a 'catastrophic' anaphylactic shock at her brother's wedding banquet, an inquest heard. Tania Kaur Khasriya suffered a hypoxic brain injury which left her unable to communicate after eating a dish at Indian restaurant Mehfil in Southall, west London, which contained nuts.
The inquest into the 24-year-old's sad death heard she had her palliative care withdrawn with the consent of her family after doctors deemed her to have no quality of life - four years after being taken ill, which caused her vegetative state. Ms Khasriya, from Ealing, west London, spent her last years at the Chalfont Lodge nursing centre in Buckinghamshire, where she received round-the-clock care.
Though her grieving family claimed they told the Mehfil about Tania's severe nut allergies, the restaurant disputed ever having been told and produced the booking form which made no mention of her allergies. Senior Coroner Lydia Brown, recording a conclusion of accidental death, said the 'distressing' sequence of events at her brother's wedding banquet led to her death.
She said: "Tania had a catastrophic collapse at the wedding banquet of her brother in July 2018. On the balance of probabilities, this was in fact an anaphylactic response to a dish with nuts.
"It had not been possible to establish exactly what she ate, but due to the severity of her response, this was indeed an anaphylactic response to her exposure. This was clearly an unwanted and unexpected outcome to what was meant to have been the most joyous of occasions. It is a terrible loss to her family."
The remote inquest at West London Coroner's Court heard Ms Khasriya was rushed to Ealing Hospital in west London after collapsing at the wedding banquet of her brother. A statement from the London Ambulance Service explained that emergency services had been called to the Mehfil restaurant 'on the green in Southall' to reports of an 'unconscious 18-year-old' who had gone into cardiac arrest.
The statement said: "She had attempted to use her own inhaler with nil effect and then collapsed."
The inquest heard she was admitted to Chalfont Lodge, a nursing centre in Buckinghamshire purpose-built to help people with neurological conditions, physical disabilities and dementia, in June 2019. Statements from medical professionals caring for Ms Khasriya at Chalfont Lodge said she 'couldn't physically or verbally communicate' any sense of 'pain and distress' and it was 'unclear' as to whether she could understand anything said to her.
Eventually, the 'truly tragic' conclusion that she had 'no appreciable quality of life' was made, and her family agreed to have her CANH care - medical treatment to provide food and fluids to patients who cannot eat or drink - 'withdrawn'. A previous hearing heard Ms Khasriya was fist diagnosed with her deadly nut allergy in 1997, when she was just one year old.
Family members claimed they had told Mehfil Restaurant Hotel & Banqueting about Ms Khasriya's severe nut allergies, but the inquest heard the restaurant disputed this claim. The company's director, Rashmi Raikhy, provided booking forms which made no mention of any allergies and explained that Ms Khasriya had even tried some of the food at a tasting for the wedding banquet menu held months before the fatal incident.
Mr Raikhy said: "[The Khasriya family] were regular customers and had eaten at the restaurant before; they knew our style of cooking. There was a tasting for the family members to try the food and Tania attended along with members of her family.
"One of the dishes was Sadabahar Paneer. Cashew nuts were used for the marinade for the paneer. The family didn't want the paneer, but the request was explicitly about the paneer and not the nuts. They had another paneer dish.
"I spoke with Mr Khasriya who said Tania had liked the food and enjoyed the meal despite being quite a fussy eater. We were not told that anyone attending had any allergies.
"We were made aware of the very sad death of Tania. I would like to say that we extend our sympathies to her family for their loss."
On April 27 Ms Khasriya's CANH care was discontinued with the consent of her family. Coroner Ms Brown gave a medical cause of death as a 'hypoxic brain injury due to anaphylaxis due to nut allergy'.
She added: "The only reason Tania died was as a consequence of the events of July 2018. She required 24-hour care [after the incident] and never recovered from her brain injury.
"She died in April 2022, following the planned withdrawal of her feeding tubes. What the family have been through does not bear thinking. I pass you my most sincere condolences on your loss."
