The grieving dad of a teenager who suffered an allergic reaction to a Pret a Manger baguette has told how he was visited by “five angels” at the moment she died.
Nadim Ednan-Laperouse’s daughter, Natasha, 15, died in 2016 after suffering an allergic reaction to sesame seeds on a flight to Nice.
But now, speaking to the BBC, he re-lived the harrowing moment his daughter passed away and said he would rather have “died himself” than watch the tragedy unfold in front of him.
He said: “The pilot was standing in the door crying, as were some of the cabin crew.
“And just as it all looked terrible – I mean, it couldn’t get worse – I was looking at Natasha, as I had never taken my eyes off her, and these five angels just appeared.
“This yellow light appeared – strong, soft, yellow light – rather like a candlelight but it’s really intense, but not that your eyes would squint.
“And then with great detail these five figures, like thin people, like you and I just now in proportion, just appeared, with wings on their backs.”
Natasha, from Fulham, west London, died of a severe allergic reaction to sesame seeds in the baguette bought at Heathrow in July 2016.
The allergen was not listed on the packaging.
In the aftermath of her death food retailers were forced to put a full list of ingredients on all products.
Nadim said: “I had anger about my child dying. I was angry with God for some time afterwards because it was terrible, terrible.
“And I did rage, but then I calmed down and we started going to church actually – in fact, the church where Natasha was going to for about a year before she died.”
Nadim’s interview can be heard in full in A Bright Yellow Light on BBC Radio 4 at 8pm on Christmas Eve.
