Mum-of-two dies after being stung during family trip to the Brecon Beacons
Angela Kendrick's daughter claims her mum didn't know how serious her illness was
A MUM-of-two who had a rare illness was killed by a wasp on a family holiday because she didn't realise the risks of her condition.
Retired shopworker Angela Kendrick collapsed from allergic shock after being stung while on a trip to the Welsh countryside.
An inquest heard the 69-year-old had Mast Cell Disorder which puts sufferers at risk of high sensitivity to stings and can kill.
But her family said she was not made "fully aware" of the risks of the allergic reaction - and even tried to use an onion to get treat the sting.
Mum Angela, of Hatfield, Hertfordshire, collapsed on a family break in the Brecon Beacons in Wales in September last year.
Her daughter Allison Kendrick, 46, called for other sufferers to being warned of the dangers of the reaction to stings.
She said: "The only way I can cope with the loss of my beautiful mum, is the hope that her story can, in some way, lead to changes being made within the care of patients with severe allergies so that further deaths can be avoided."
Allison prayed that no other family would be put through the "excruciating pain" of a death from a simple sting.
"The void she has left in our lives is unbearable," she added.
The hearing was told former Boots and Tesco worker Angela was on the family break with her two daughters and retired butcher husband David, 72, when she was stung.
Allison heard her father say: "Have you been stung?" before a commotion broke out in their rented holiday cottage.
She said: "Mum was trying to treat the sting using an onion.
"I said to her: 'What are you doing?' She replied: 'I'm trying to get the sting out.'"
Allison told an inquest into her mum's death that the old wives' tale treatment of an onion for a sting showed her mum's "lack of education" about her condition.
Her sister injected adrenaline from her mum's EpiPen on her to counteract the allergic reaction as the family called an ambulance.
But the inquest heard Angela began having trouble breathing, described by her daughter as an "awful rasping which was horrible".
Allison said: "There was no physical sign that the adrenaline had any effect whatsoever."
Angela was taken to Nevill Hall Hospital in Abergavenny because paramedics had run out of adreniline medication - but she was pronounced dead at 10.15am.
The daughter told how her mother was diagnosed with Mast Cell Disorder in 2003 - an excess number in body tissues of the cells which fight allergic reaction.
But she was not warned about the dangers until she suffered a sting seven years later.
Her family claim she was not referred to a specialist until last year - but her treatment was not due to start until three months after she died.
Allison said: "It was just pure chance that the doctor she saw happened to have a relative with the same allergy to wasp venom.
"They knew there was a programme for desensitisation and asked my mum: 'Would you be willing to go on it'.
"Mum agreed and tested positive. She was suitable for the programme and given an appointment to start in December last year."
But the inquest in Newport, South Wales, heard she collapsed on September 1 on the family break.
A post mortem examination gave the cause of death as anaphylactic shock and wasp sting.
Allison said: "We will never know if the significant link had been made between her wasp venom allergy and an earlier diagnosis of Mast Cell Disorder whether her care would have been different.
"Our doubts and unanswered questions are very hard to live with.
"The whole family are heart broken. Mum was so vibrant and full of energy."
Gwent coroner Wendy James said: "It appears Mrs Kendrick was unaware of the consequences of her condition as she would go out leaving her EpiPen at home."
She said she would have "benefited" from being provided with further information about anaphylaxis from doctors and being put in touch with a support group.
"Had this been done, Mrs Kendrick may have become aware that she was able to take part in a desensitisation programme earlier," she said.
She said that her family will "never know whether any treatment would have been successful".
The coroner added: "Through her ignorance she placed her life in danger, which I am sure she would not have done had she been appraised of the risks of this condition.
"It's not the purpose of this inquest to apportion blame or liability. She died as a severe adverse reaction to a wasp sting which is a natural cause of death."
Offering her sympathy to the family, she recorded a narrative conclusion that Angela's reaction to the sting was so severe "due to her existing Mast Cell Disorder."
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