'Dad, I'm dying': Father recalls heartbreaking moment son collapsed and died after eating Subway cookie
A father has told of the horror of watching his teenage son collapse and later die after eating a Subway biscuit.
Jack Irvine suffered serious nut allergies and asthma, but while away on a go-karting camp at Oakleigh, he ate a biscuit without realising there were nuts in it.
He thought it was just a white chocolate chip cookie.
The 15-year-old went into anaphylactic shock with his father, Robert Irvine, watching on, helpless.
“He came up to me and he says, ‘oh dad I think you better get me an ambulance’. And I said, ‘what's wrong bud?’ And he said, ‘my asthma's playing up’,” Mr Irvine said.
Jack was in the care of the Victorian Karting Association on a youth camp in 2012, which didn't allow kids to take their own food.
Jack's mum Julie had warned camp organisers in writing about his allergy, but coroner Audrey Jamieson found the Victorian Karting Association failed to protect the teen in the way they handled that information, ordered the food and managed first aid.
“His lips started going black and I could see him really gasping for air. And at this stage I still considered it to be an asthma attack,” Mr Irvine recalled.
Then, Jack collapsed.
“He looked up at me like this and he said, ‘dad, I'm dying’. And ah, I gave him the greatest hug in the world and I said, ‘buddy, I won't let you die’.
“A father trying to resuscitate your own child is one of the most chilling things you could do.”
Six days after biting into the cookie, Jack tragically passed away in hospital.
Barrie Woollacott from law firm Slater and Gordon said the teen's death could have been avoided.
“It is a deadly condition and we need to respect it because it takes lives when that should not happen and as the coroner said this was a preventable death,” he told 7 News.
Mrs Irvine is still in shock over losing her beloved son.
“It is still hard to know that a simple biscuit has taken my son's life,” she said.
The coroner's finding is not the end of court proceedings for the Irvine family.
They are suing Subway, the franchisee and the Victorian Karting Association for damages in the Supreme Court.
News break – April 29
