THE family and friends of an 18-year-old, who died on holiday after a fatal allergic reaction, are raising funds and have created an app "to honour his memory and save other people from the same fate".
Shiv Mistry, from Amersham, turned 18 in 2022. Like many other young students celebrating the end of his exams, he went on a holiday with friends to Spain after being accepted into Claire College at Cambridge University to study Medicine.
Whilst on holiday, Shiv had an allergic reaction to a pina colada cocktail which had "unexpectedly been mixed with dairy cream instead of the conventional coconut cream" and went into anaphylactic shock, after living with the dairy allergy since he was young.
Despite efforts to revive him, an inquest held at Beaconsfield Coroner's Court on September 2022 concluded that Shiv "was offered and sipped from a Pina Colada cocktail which unknown to him had unexpectedly been mixed with dairy cream instead of the conventional coconut cream, causing him to suffer a severe and unpreventable anaphylactic shock and cardiac arrest from which he died in Costa del Sol Hospital in Marbella on 8th July 2022."
Coroner Ian Wade QC read out a series of GP documents, confirming that Shiv was aware of his cow's milk allergy and had taken care to avoid any exposure to traces of milk and dairy products throughout his life.
He said: "He was invited to take a sip of Pina Colada, a drink which should not have cow's milk in it. Unbeknownst to Shiv, it was inappropriately made with cow's milk.
"He realised he was in peril and he was given EpiPens. He was given immediate attention by friends who raised the alarm."
Shiv's father, Jugdish Mistry, said: "He saved five lives through organ donation which is sort of in line with what he wanted to do anyway because he wanted to study medicine at Cambridge.
"Now, the best thing we can do is to try and prevent this from happening again."
The family and friends of Shiv have since rallied together to raise vital funds for the only UK-wide charity which operates solely for the growing numbers of people at risk of serious allergic reactions and anaphylaxis, Anaphylaxis UK.
Thames Path Challenge
In a matter of days, Shiv's father Jugdish, younger sister Esha, and his friends will take part in the Thames Path 2024, a marathon route following the path of the River Thames from Putney Bridge to Henley-on-Thames.
Taking place on September 14 and 15, the Thames Path 2024 is an ultramarathon challenge, where more than 2,000 challengers will take on the main Thames Path Challenge where most will walk, many will jog, some will run, and all have a special reason to push themselves.
So far, the fundraiser has garnered support from 70 people and organisations who have donated close to £2,000 collectively via JustGiving (accurate at time of writing - September 4, 2024).
Helping others in similar situations
While mourning the loss of their son, Jugdish and Lata continue to help others in a bid to prevent further allergy-related deaths abroad, by creating an app called Shivlet.
Shivlet is an 'allergy communication app' that has been created by Jugdish Mistry and Aditya Mahesh to relay allergy information in more than 30 languages.
This information, when communicated to servers in restaurants, could save the lives of those who suffer from severe allergies or intolerances which can lead to anaphylaxis, said Jugdish Mistry.
Lata Mistry, Shiv's mother, said if someone has a dairy allergy for example, they can use the app which will describe the ingredients which will contain dairy (e.g. butter and cream) as well as translating them into the language of choice.
Lata said: "Sometimes they get misunderstood and understand that as just the milk, but they don't exclude the butter, the margarine, or the whey powder."
Lata Mistry added that in designing the app, they took the advice of a dietitian who helped them to create a list of ingredients in the app.
Right now, the app is available for Apple users for free, however plans are in place to release an Android version.
Jugdish Mistry said: "I think it's really important to get the message out there that other people charge 10 pounds to do this translation.
"We've done the development and everything so that people, children of this age group who don't think about what they're reaching for or what's going on, they're out there to have a good time, they can give that message in any language and in any country that they visit for free.
"They could be on an airplane sitting next to someone and they could have a nut allergy and that person next to them might not speak English but they can show the app to that person immediately.
"It's there to stop what happened to our son."
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