Next week, an inquest concerning the circumstances surrounding a possible allergic response to a Costa Coffee drink will get underway about the death of 13-year-old Hannah Jacobs.

On February 8 of last year, Hannah, an East London resident from Barking, passed away following what appeared to be an allergic response to a hot chocolate drink.

Before leaving for a dentist appointment, her mother got Hannah and herself got a hot chocolate from their neighbourhood Costa.

Since her diagnosis as a toddler, Hannah’s family has successfully managed her severe allergies to dairy, eggs, fish, and wheat throughout her life.

Hannah’s mother disclosed her daughter’s dairy sensitivity to the barista, according to the law firm Leigh Day.

However, Hannah informed her mother right away that the beverage wasn’t made with soy milk as soon as she tasted it at the dentist’s office’s waiting area.

The pair then rushed to a nearby pharmacy to ask for help where staff gave Hannah an EpiPen, an emergency treatment designed to combat a life-threatening allergic reaction. 

But, despite this and an ambulance crew arriving shortly afterwards to take her to hospital, resuscitation attempts were unsuccessful.

Hannah was declared dead at 1 pm that day.

The inquest will be held at East London Coroner’s Court on Monday.

It is expected to last a week and will examine how Hannah died through the testimony of 11 witnesses and experts.

A request for comment has been made to Costa Coffee.

Her devastated family have released a heartbreaking picture of Hannah. 

In it, she is seen with a beaming smile, holding huge gold and bronze birthday balloons in the shape of the numbers ‘1’ and ‘3’. 

She is wearing a lilac sash and pinned to her pretty white printed dress is an extra-large badge with the number ’13’ on it. 

According to experts, each year in Britain, allergic reactions to food cause 10 deaths and 5,000 hospital admissions for severe cases.

According to recent government statistics, 2.4 million persons in the UK may have a food allergy, and over the past 20 years, hospital admissions for severe responses have more than tripled.

Allergies can cause a variety of symptoms, but the most deadly is anaphylaxis, a dangerous inflammation of the airways.

This can make it hard and even impossible to breathe and can cause the body to go into a cardiac emergency like a cardiac arrest due to a lack of oxygen.

Many people have serious reactions to different things who have to use an EpiPen, however, an EpiPen doesn’t always save them.

People who carry an EpiPen normally have two on them and then have to call 999 immediately.

Sadly, we have to rely on and trust people who work in these places, and when it comes down to it, you’re trusting them with your life, especially if you have serious allergies, but the only people who should be preparing your food and drink from scratch is YOU!  

However, eateries and bars ought to be able to accommodate dietary requirements and make sure that their employees are trained to use the appropriate products.

Unfortunately, we can’t be attached to our children’s hips 24/7, especially as they get older, and for a parent, it can be incredibly scary.

Someone with Anaphylaxsis can’t NOT just go out, or live their life on edge where they can’t enjoy something as simple as a drink.

While I am sure Costa is deeply sorry for what happened, and the person who was the server will never forget for the rest of their lives, this is undoubtedly a very sad case. However, a lot of cross-contamination occurs in these places, which can make some people very ill.