A retired retail manager who died of severe salmonella poisoning after frying and eating four duck eggs he bought at a country show would have been diagnosed with the infection sooner if he had been taken to hospital by ambulance when he called for help, an inquest has found. Jurors said the opportunity to administer antibiotics within the first hour was missed and this contributed to “his prospect of survival”.
An intensive care specialist said Niptoon Tavakoli, 65, had one of the worst cases of salmonella he had ever seen. Mr Tavakoli died in hospital two months after becoming ill after eating eggs bought from a stall at Messingham Show, in North Lincolnshire, on June 2, 2019.
An inquest jury heard how he first called an ambulance on June 7 after suffering from diarrhoea and vomiting, but the crew decided to not to take him to hospital, instead giving him advice. His wife Cheryl told the inquest how she called an ambulance again on June 10 as she was very concerned about her husband, fearing he may have developed sepsis.
She said he had mottling on his body, and his lips and his nails had turned blue. The same ambulance crew attended and this time took him to Doncaster Royal Infirmary.
Mrs Tavakoli described how parts of her husband’s body had turned black by the time he arrived at the hospital. On Thursday evening, a jury found that “mandatory policy should have been followed and he should have been transferred straight to hospital” the first time the paramedics were called to the house in Lindholme, near Doncaster.
The jury found that an admission on June 7 “would have led to him being treated for sepsis and diagnosed with salmonella sooner”. Mrs Tavakoli described how her husband, who also worked in the catering business for many years, ate the four eggs with toast in two separate meals, in each case frying them really well.
Speaking after the inquest, Mrs Tavakoli said: “It’s almost impossible to find the words to describe the impact Niptoon’s death has had on our family. He was such a caring and fun person who loved spending time with his family and friends but also antique hunting and collecting coins.”
She said: “While nothing can bring him back we take some small comfort from at least being able to honour his memory by now establishing the answers Niptoon deserved. However, we feel we need to speak out to raise awareness of the dangers of not only salmonella but sepsis.
“People have probably heard of sepsis but I’m not sure everyone is fully aware of how dangerous it is. Niptoon had worked in the catering business for years so knew the importance of good hygiene, safety standards and knew how to cook duck eggs.
“That he contracted salmonella even with his knowledge shows that other could fall ill after eating them. We just want to try and make people aware as we wouldn’t want another family to go through what we have.”
Mrs Tavakoli said signs of sepsis include slurred speech, confusion, extreme shivering and muscle pain, passing no urine in a day, severe breathlessness and mottled or discoloured skin. The jury concluded that Mr Tavakoli died of natural causes.
