Schoolgirl, 14, choked to death while midnight snacking on PICKLED EGG
Teen was struggling with her weight and ate snacks whole rather than chewing them
A TEENAGE girl choked to death after swallowing a pickled egg whole while having a midnight snack.
An inquest into young Anna Sexton's death heard that the 14-year-old had a habit of sneaking downstairs at home at night and eating pickled eggs by swallowing them whole rather than chewing them.
Coroner's officer David Peake told the inquest that Anna had made allegations of assault against her parents and was living with her grandparents, Sally-Ann and Michael Sexton, who had been her legal guardians since 2011.
Tragically it was said that her granddad's frantic attempts to save her life failed and she died on June 8 this year at their home in Cheltenham.
Mr Peake told the hearing: "She had a tendency to gorge on pickled eggs at night.
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"According to her grandparents, she would creep downstairs to eat them. She did not chew but 'shoved them down.'
"That night, June 8, her grandmother went out of the kitchen to take a phone call then heard her husband shouting for help.
"She returned to the kitchen to see Anna lying on the floor in the lavatory and her husband performing CPR.
"She had been eating a pickled egg and choked.
"Her grandfather slapped her on the back in an attempt to clear her airways but she collapsed on the floor."
The ambulance arrived at 7.20pm and she was sadly pronounced dead at 8.46pm.
"Ambulance staff struggled to get an airway due to her size," Mr Peake added.
At the time of her death the 14-year-old was said to weigh around 22 stone.
A police report of an interview with Anna's grandparents aid that she had been out that afternoon to an obesity help session and was taken home by her youth worker at 5.30pm.
She then got into a paddling pool at the house to play with a cousin. She got dried and dressed and was in the kitchen when the phone rang. Her grandmother went outside to answer it.
Mrs Sexton then heard her husband shouting for help and she went back in to see him performing CPR on Anna.
The police report of Mr Sexton's account of the tragedy said he was outside the house when Anna's father, Kevin, rang to speak to her. Mrs Sexton went to answer the call.
"Michael said Anna then came out of the house to where he was and reached out with her arms saying she couldn't breathe. She was panicking. She went to the toilet and then collapsed on the floor.
"Mr Sexton described her lips turning blue as he tried to save her doing, in his words, everything I could.
"She would often eat pickled eggs - she would sneak down at night and not chew them but shove them down."
Medical reports on Anna said she had struggled to control her weight and although it went down last year it had been increasing recently.
The reports said she had the full support of her school, youth support workers, social services and doctors.
Pathologist Dr Linmarie Ludeman said Anna had suffered a heart attack as a result of asphyxia.
Gloucestershire assistant coroner Caroline Saunders recorded a verdict of misadventure.
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