ANGUISH OF PARENTS WHOSE DAUGHTER
SCHOOLGIRL Megan Lee died two years ago but her toothbrush still lies next to the bathroom sink.
Reminders of the 15-yearold are all around her family’s once happy home.
Her bedroom is exactly as she left it, even down to GCSE revision notes still taped to the wall.
Every day her mum sits quietly in there, trying to feel close to her.
Megan went into anaphylactic shock after eating an Indian meal she ordered from a takeaway via a delivery firm – despite warning staff she had an allergy to nuts.
The workers – from the Royal Spice in Oswaldtwistle, Lancs – responsible for her death are now in jail but parents Gemma, 35, and Adam, 37, still can’t bear to move any of her things.
Today, in their first newspaper interview, the distraught couple reveal the catalogue of failings which led to her death. Megan was wrongly diagnosed with having “mild” allergies and never issued with an Epipen that could have saved her life.
Now her mum and dad are calling for annual medical reviews for all allergy sufferers and for more people to be issued with the devices, which can be bought for just £45.
Unpredictable
They also urge food businesses to take more care over standards, especially where customers declare allergies.
Guest relations manager Gemma said: “We’ve learned that teenage girls are more at risk of anaphylaxis because their bodies are changing.
“Megan should have had an Epipen. If she’d had one, would things have turned out differently? We have no way of knowing but we’ve asked ourselves many times.”
Adam, who works in printing, added: “No allergy should ever be described as ‘mild’ because allergies are so unpredictable.
“Since Megan’s death, we have had information which shows she should have been categorised as high risk. Why weren’t her allergies reviewed every year?”
A police probe found Megan’s meal, which included an onion bhaji, a seekh kebab and Peshwari naan, had “widespread presence” of peanut protein. Harun Rashid, 38, who managed the Royal Spice, was jailed for three years after a jury found he’d unlawfully killed her through gross negligence. Owner Mohammed Kuddus, 40, was found guilty of the same charge at Manchester Crown Court and given two years. Their trial heard the takeaway had poor hygiene and did not keep track of ingredients or allergens. It was closed down to protect the public. Megan’s parents, who have a nineyear-old son Owen, attended court every day. Gemma said: “I don’t feel hatred towards them but it might have helped if they’d pleaded guilty. I wish they’d just said, ‘We’ve caused a death and we’re devastated’. “They had a complete lack of respect for us. But if I thought meeting them and telling them how hard our lives are without Megan would have an impact, I’d probably do it.” Model pupil Megan, who loved musical theatre and dreamed of being a West End actress, was diagnosed with a nut allergy at the age of eight.
Gemma took her to a GP after she broke out in a rash while using nuts to make birdseed.
Because she also suffered from eczema and asthma, her allergies should have been classed as high risk but they were never reviewed.
Despite this Megan, who at nine was a bridesmaid when her parents married, always checked labels and never ordered food containing any traces of nuts.
She ordered the Indian takeaway on December 30, 2016, after a GCSE revision session with a friend, and wrote on the form that she was allergic to nuts.
After one bite of the kebab her lip swelled slightly but it subsided when her friend’s parents gave her an antihistamine.
She discarded the kebab and ate