A 14-year-old girl died choking on a pickled egg just hours after returning from a weight loss club, an inquest heard yesterday.
Tragic Anna Sexton weighed over 21 stone and had sought help after struggling with her weight for years.
She would often sneak downstairs at night and gorge on pickled eggs – shoving them down without chewing, an inquest was told.
But on June 8 she returned to her grandparents home following an after school weight loss club and later that evening ate a pickled egg.
It became lodged in her throat and she collapsed before going into cardiac arrest, an inquest in Gloucester, Glos heard.
Moments before collapsing in the toilet she called out to her grandfather Michael Sexton saying she couldn’t breath.
Frantic attempts were made to resuscitate her before ambulance crews arrived and she was rushed to Gloucester Royal Hospital.
But on route she suffered a cardiac arrest as paramedics battled to find an airway and she was pronounced dead at 8.46pm that evening.
The inquest heard she weighed 139kg and had a BMI of 47 when she died.
Assistant coroner for Gloucestershire Caroline Saunders recorded a verdict of misadventure.
She said: “Anna was a 14 year old girl who was severely obese and weighed 139kg.
”Despite engaging with services to weight loss she had a tendency to overeat and gorge on food, particularly pickled eggs at night.
“She lived with her grandparents and sometime during the evening after 7pm she called her grandfather, she appeared to be distressed apparently choking and collapsed.
”Ambulance crews arrived at 7.20pm but had difficulties establishing an airway.”The inquest was told the day she died she’d had a slim fast shake and eaten some chicken nuggets that evening before jumping in a paddling pool.
She then went into the kitchen and grabbed some pickled eggs but moments later she reached out to her grandfather saying she couldn’t breath.
Her gran Sally-Anne Sexton, who had just received a phone call from Anna’s father Kevin and had gone in the kitchen to take it, heard her husband calling for help.
She found Michael performing CPR and Anna laying collapsed on the floor.
He described her lips as blue and said I did “everything I could”, the inquest heard.
Ambulance crews arrived minutes later but paramedics struggled to find an airway because of her size, an inquest heard.Dr Robert Stacey , consultant in emergency department st Gloucester Royal Hospital, told the hearing:: “Indications were she had choked and had collapsed and deteriorated into cardiac arrest.
”Resuscitation attempts continued and adrenaline was administered.”
Chin Withybrew, GP at Stoke Road surgery, added: “She had a medical history of obesity, psoriasis, of raised levels of fat in her blood, and struggled to control her weight.
“She lost a bit in 2015 but had been regaining weight at the time of death.”
Anna had been living with her grandparents, who were her legal guardians, in Cheltenham, Glos., since 2011.
The inquest heard she was in regular contact with her mother Laura Gibbs, father Kevin Sexton and siblings.
Her devastated mum had launched an emotional appeal to help fund the funeral of her “bubbly, music loving daughter” on July 4.