Deadly dinner: Healthy teen dies after food enters lungs

An inquest at Mold County Hall heard how 15-year-old Alun School student Abby Reese Beaumont became the victim of a freak accident on April 2, 2019. The inquest was informed about the events leading up to the incident, as well as the emergency care given to Abby after she collapsed in her home. A post mortem report concluded that the teen had not died due to choking, but had died due to regurgitated food entering her lungs.

Abby had prepared a meal of chicken and nachos around 7 pm on the day of the incident. The teen spent some time in her room chatting on the phone with her friends. At around 11 pm, she started showing signs of distress. The teen could not stop coughing so she went into the kitchen for some water.

Abby's father, Darren Beaumont, heard her call for her mother, Alison Beaumont. When Darren went to check why Abby had been calling Alison, he found the young girl collapsed on the kitchen floor. Darren recalled that Abby was bleeding from her mouth and nose. A 999 call was made by Alison at 11:20 pm. Abby's 13-year-old sister, Jessica Beaumont, ran to her neighbours' house to get help.

The neighbours, two of whom were doctors and two had military medical training, started performing CPR on Abby. By 11:28 pm, paramedics arrived at the home to find that Abby had gone into cardiac arrest. First responder Jonathan Cross told the inquest that they tried to keep her airway clear and continued providing life support while rushing Abby to Wrexham Maelor Hospital. Abby did not survive even though a medical team attended to her the moment she reached the hospital.

The Daily Post reported that paediatric pathologist, Rajeev Shukla, conducted post mortem on Abby's body. Abby was in good health but her lungs bled after her stomach acid came up and went back down the wrong way. The cause of death was not choking. It was "foreign body aspiration with massive pulmonary haemorrhage." Coroner for North Wales east and central, John Gittins, concluded that since Abby collapsed in the kitchen, her heart had completely stopped.

Darren and Alison fondly remembered their daughter as a mature young girl. The grieving parents aim to set up an organisation to help families cope with the sudden loss of a child.