Mum tells of son’s fatal reaction to McDonald’s wrap
THE mother of a young boy who died from an allergic reaction to a McDonald’s chicken wrap has spoken of her heartbreak and the terrifying moment her son took ill.
Dublin coroner Dr Myra Cullinane warned parents of children with food allergies to check ingredients. She was speaking at the inquest into the death of Maleek Lawal (10), a pupil at St Audoen’s National School in Dublin.
The child suffered a severe allergic reaction and died after eating a takeaway meal from McDonald’s. The boy’s mother told Dublin Coroner’s Court he always asked for McDonald’s food as a treat.
He ate a peri peri chicken wrap from the fast-food restaurant’s Ilac Centre outlet on October 7, 2016. Within 10 minutes he began to feel ill.
“He was a beautiful, playful boy. My heart is truly broken for him. I would not wish this pain of losing him on my worst enemy,” his mother, Rukawat Lawal, said after the inquest.
Maleek was diagnosed with asthma and eczema as a child and was advised to avoid milk, eggs, fish and nuts. On the day he died, Ms Lawal had taken her three children to a barber shop for a haircut.
“We were homeless, with nobody helping us, we were on our own and I was looking for a way to get out of emergency accommodation. I was looking for a way to keep the children happy,” she said.
The mother of three left her sons in the barber shop at the Ilac Centre and went with her daughter to McDonald’s where she ordered hamburgers, chicken nuggets and a peri peri chicken wrap. Maleek had often eaten hamburgers and nuggets but never the peri peri wrap, the court heard. Ms Lawal brought the food back to the barber’s where the children ate it.
Within minutes his lips and face swelled up. Dublin Fire Brigade were called to the scene at 5.50pm but Maleek was not breathing and had no pulse when they arrived. The child was rushed to Temple Street Children’s Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 7pm.
Pathologist Dr Deirdre Devaney gave the cause of death as acute anaphylactic shock following ingestion of food on the same date. Dr Cullinane returned a verdict of misadventure.