14yo suffers severe allergic reaction on British Airways flight after man refuses to stop eating peanuts

A 14 year old with a severe nut allergy nearly died after another passenger refused to stop eating peanuts.
A 14 year old with a severe nut allergy nearly died after another passenger refused to stop eating peanuts. Photo credit: Getty Images

A 14-year-old with a severe nut allergy came close to death on a flight after another passenger refused to stop eating peanuts.

Poppy Jones was flying from Antigua to London when she went into anaphylaxis because someone was eating peanuts on the plane.

Jones's mother Joanna told the Daily Mail she saw a man ten rows in front of them eating peanuts. He refused to stop eating his nuts despite being told twice to do so.

"All the crew could do was ask him to stop eating them but he wouldn't. He carried on and just didn’t seem to care that he was putting my daughter’s life at risk," she told Daily Mail.

Luckily there was a nurse on board the British Airways flight, who used an oxygen mask from an emergency medical kit to control the young girl's breathing.

Jones's mother also gave her daughter two Epipen shots to prevent her from dying.

Daily Mail reported the captain considered making an emergency landing before carrying on to Gatwick Airport.

"When we landed an ambulance met us and rushed us straight to hospital where we spent the rest of the day until Poppy was well enough to be discharged," Jones's mother said.

The mother was extremely upset with the situation as she didn't know if her daughter would survive.

"I honestly thought she was going to die and it’s now put me off flying in the future because I just can’t take the risk again," she told the Daily Mail. 

She wants more to be done to protect those who have nut allergies and for there to be consequences for those who ignore people's allergens. 

A British Airways spokesperson said: "The safety and welfare of our customers is always our priority and we take the issue of allergens very seriously," Daily Mail reported.

They went on to add, the crew followed procedure on Poppy's flight by asking passengers not to eat nuts because of the girl's allergies.