Little Cameron Wahid Went Into Anaphylactic Shock After Being Given Dairy At Italian Eatery

The family of a seven-year-old British boy who died from an allergic reaction after eating dairy produce in Italy say they hope lessons will be learned after a member of staff at the restaurant was convicted in an Italian court for her role in his death.

Cameron Wahid was on holiday with his family in October 2015 when he suffered a severe anaphylactic reaction to dairy produce. He died at Naples’ Santobono Hospital after going into cardiac and respiratory arrest in Ravello town square following a meal with his family at a nearby restaurant. 

The schoolboy’s devastated family instructed expert international personal injury lawyers at Irwin Mitchell to help them get answers surrounding what happened to their little boy.

Following a police investigation in Italy, criminal proceedings were brought against a chef and a waitress at the restaurant after the family maintained they told staff about his severe allergies. The chef has been cleared of all charges but this week the waitress was found guilty.

Cameron’s father, Riz Wahid, from East Grinstead in West Sussex, who now works with Allergy UK as an ambassador, said: “We were always so careful about letting everyone know about the severity of Cameron’s allergy because it was such a danger for him. We feel his death was avoidable and it has left us devastated. Our loss is something from which I feel we will never recover.

“I feel compelled to do everything I can, so that nobody else has to watch their child die as we did. No amount of money will never make up for what we have been through and our hope is that now these proceedings are over lessons will be learned so that other people with allergies do not suffer the same fate.”

Expert international personal injury lawyers at Irwin Mitchell say that despite Cameron’s parents, Cassandra and Riz, warning restaurant staff that he was severely allergic to dairy products, and subsequently receiving assurances from waiting staff that the meal was safe for Cameron to eat, Cameron was in fact given dairy as part of his meal, with fatal consequences.

Expert Opinion

“The Wahid family has been through one of the worst experiences imaginable having seen Cameron die from a condition which they had always been so very careful to control.

This distressing ordeal has obviously taken a huge toll on the family, who almost four years on are still struggling to come to terms with life without their little boy.

They just wanted answers and for lessons to be learned.”
Daniel Matchett - Associate Solicitor

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