Helen Brett of Castlebar, Co Mayo died on July 1st, 1995 from anaphylactic shock without ever having heard of it. "It was a Saturday evening and we had friends staying," says her husband Michael. "We ordered a Chinese takeaway. Helen was asthmatic, and she had suffered a severe reaction to shellfish 10 years earlier so she had always avoided shellfish. She had finished her meal, but just leaned over and took a forkful of my fried rice.
"Immediately it touched her tongue, she experienced tingling. She felt she was in for an asthmatic attack and indicated we had to go to the hospital. We made it in about three to four minutes, as we live nearby. She talked to me in the car and walked into the hospital. Once inside she became breathless and the staff responded immediately by giving her oxygen. I took four or five steps to the nurses desk intending to phone home and when I looked round, they were giving Helen artificial respiration because she had gone into a deep coma. It was that sudden.
"Helen died the following Thursday and the few days helped us to say goodbye and be with her. We had a very loving marriage and she was my best friend."
"At the time we knew nothing about anaphylaxis or adrenaline. Helen's death raised a lot of awareness; that was the one good thing to come out of it. But people forget about the dangers and do need reminding."