Jeremy’s friends desperately attempted to resuscitate him after he suddenly collapsed, but despite their efforts, the teenager, who suffered from asthma, was declared dead shortly after midnight at Gosford Hospital.
In findings released today, New South Wales Deputy State Coroner Carmel Forbes concluded that Jeremy’s death was caused by an anaphylactic reaction to mammalian meat, which subsequently triggered a fatal asthma attack.
Forbes stated, “The experts concur that an acute worsening of asthma was the direct cause of Jeremy’s demise, and the evidence indicates that this acute exacerbation resulted from a severe allergic reaction to mammalian meat.”
“Had it not been for the anaphylaxis induced by the allergy, Jeremy’s asthma would not have been fatal,” Forbes added.
Initially, the 16-year-old’s tragic passing was attributed solely to an asthma attack.
However, it was later determined by Professor Sheryl van Nunen, a clinical immunologist and allergy specialist, that Jeremy suffered from a mammalian meat allergy, which developed following a tick bite.
Van Nunen told the ABC that Webb’s death is the first documented case of mammalian meat allergy in Australia and the second in the world.
A 47-year-old man from New Jersey is believed to be the only other fatal case.
The court heard when Jeremy was about five years old, he and his family moved to a large block of land on the Central Coast which was surrounded by dense bush.
Over the years he experienced a number of tick bites.
Following his death, the teenager’s parents Myfanwy and Johnathan Webb advocated for an inquest into his death to promote better education into mammalian meat allergy for the public and medical practitioners.
His mother previously told the coroner she missed her son dearly and thought about him every day.
“I may never be able to hold him again but he was and will always be an integral part of my life,” she said.
Mammalian meat allergy is also known as alpha-gal syndrome.
Van Nunen has diagnosed and managed more than 800 patients with mammalian meat allergy in the last 20 years.
She told the coroner’s court that a tick causes the allergy by injecting an allergen into the body which cause the body to manufacture alpha-gal allergy antibody.
That antibody causes the body to become sensitised to a molecule known as alpha-gal that is found in most mammals including cows, pigs, sheep and kangaroos.
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