A coronial inquest has heard the tragic story of a 16-year-old boy whose death on a camping trip may have been caused by a rare red meat allergy, potentially triggered by tick bites.
The Fateful Camping Trip
Jeremy Webb, an outgoing and athletic teenager, was camping with three friends on the NSW Central Coast on June 10, 2022. The group ate a dinner of beef sausages purchased from a supermarket. By 11pm that evening, Jeremy reported having difficulty breathing and collapsed while attempting to seek help from a nearby adult.
His friends immediately began CPR in an effort to resuscitate him, but despite their efforts, the teenager was pronounced dead just an hour and a half later. The inquest is now examining whether his final meal led to his death, following a posthumous diagnosis of a potentially lethal allergy to red meat.
Understanding Mammalian Meat Allergy
The condition, known as mammalian meat allergy, can be triggered by previous tick bites and manifests with symptoms ranging from stomach discomfort, nausea, vomiting, hives and swelling to life-threatening anaphylaxis. Allergy expert Associate Professor Sheryl van Nunen told the inquest that it can take up to five hours for the allergic reaction to appear after eating red meat.
"But when it starts, it evolves rapidly. So people go from zero to one hundred," Professor van Nunen stated on Monday. Based on Jeremy's history of rapidly onset asthma, his record of tick bites and previous allergy symptoms after consuming red meat, she believed he had likely suffered from the condition since childhood.
Medical experts have agreed that Jeremy died from a combination of either a severe allergic reaction or anaphylaxis and an acute asthmatic episode.
A Mother's Grief and a Growing Problem
Jeremy's mother, Myfanwy Webb, expressed that no single person was to blame for her son's tragically short life. "I think it's just a combination of things that intersected together that no one could actually have predicted," she said outside court. "Unfortunately, there's so many times when things should have happened and they didn't."
Ms Webb said her son would be proud that his legacy might initiate practical changes to prevent further deaths. "I'm sure (this inquest) is going to save many more lives," she stated while wearing a necklace made from a part of her son's bike, adding that this confidence was helping to neutralise her pain.
The inquest will also examine the adequacy of Jeremy's medical treatment before his death and whether a more thorough investigation into his conditions could have prevented the tragedy.
Professor van Nunen revealed concerning statistics, noting a 40% year-on-year increase in mammalian meat allergy diagnoses in Australia since 2020. The highest rates are found in NSW and Queensland, with the Sydney basin - particularly the Northern Beaches area - becoming a global hotspot for the condition.
The allergy expert emphasised that prevention is crucial, as it only takes two tick bites to make most people more sensitive to mammalian meat allergies. The inquest continues.
