<<Print>>

A housewife died after suffering a massive allergic reaction possibly triggered by the glue in her hair extensions, an inquest heard today. Atasha Graham, 34, collapsed after a night out dancing at a club where her boyfriend was the DJ. The hearing at Southwark Coroner's Court in London was told the allergic reaction may have been caused by the glue used to attach her hair extensions - but there was no way to be 100 per cent certain. Home Office pathologist Doctor Michael Heath told the inquest: 'I�ve seen cases where people using solvent to apply hair extensions has actually caused anaphylactic shock. 'There are about 10 to 20 deaths a year in this country, many more in America. I have seen four in the last three months.' The inquest heard that 'fun-loving' Ms Graham had been fine on the night out until she stepped through the door of her home in Lee, south-east London, at 6.30am, then suddenly collapsed and stopped breathing. Her shocked partner, Fenton Johnson, called an ambulance and tried to resuscitate her while 999 operators told him what to do over the phone. Ms Graham, the third youngest of nine siblings, never properly regained consciousness and died later in hospital. A post-mortem failed to find any abnormalities with her organs or substances which could have caused her death. Her younger brother Carlus, who attended the inquest with his wife Marsha, said: 'This is the most frustrating thing of all. We still don�t know what happened.' The inquest heard Ms Graham had been drinking Hennessy brandy and Red Bull hours before she died, but only had a moderate amount of alcohol in her body which could not have caused her death.Dr Heath did not find any kind of drugs or substances in her body. Jamaican-born Ms Graham, who had eaten takeaway jerk pork and Chinese before going out, did not have any history of food allergies. Dr Heath said an allergic reaction to food would normally occur within half an hour of consumption so he did not think it could have been anything she ate. He then examined a hair piece Ms Graham wore to see if there could have been an allergic reaction to the latex glue used to attach it to her natural hair.Dr Heath added: 'The hair extensions in Atasha�s hair were of a latex type. This may or may not be related [to her death]. 'If it is the hair extension normally a reaction would occur within half an hour of applying them or if some of the latex got into the solution because of perspiration and then got into the bloodstream.' He added that sweat, for instance if she had been dancing in a club, could potentially have caused the glue to get into her bloodstream. But the pathologist said he would expect an allergic reaction to occur shortly after the glue was applied and Atasha had been wearing extensions, which she got done in salons, since the age of 20. After lengthy discussions with experts the pathologist said he was certain the cause of death was anaphylactic shock as the level of tryptase, which occurs naturally in the body during an allergic reaction, was 178 micrograms per litre of blood - up to 25 times higher than the normal amount of between two and 14 micrograms per litre.However, he said he could not pinpoint exactly what was the trigger was. Dr Heath added: 'The diagnosis is correct, but I am not sure what triggered it. 'If she had recovered we could have carried out tests, but the situation we have, tragically, we cannot take it any further.' Coroner Christopher Williams recorded a verdict of death by natural causes as he said it was not possible to identify a clear link with a particular allergen that caused her body to go into shock. He said: 'She had an allergic reaction to something as the level of tryptase in her body was 178 micrograms, but we are not able to identify what the specific agent was that that caused this reaction.' Speaking afterwards, Mr Johnson, Ms Graham's partner of two years with whom she had been trying to have a baby, described her as a 'wonderful person' who helped him turn his life around. Mr Johnson said: 'She changed me a lot. It�s so shocking this could have happened. I still have to keep looking at pictures of her on my phone.' Ms Graham�s brother, Carlus, added: 'She was such a nice person. She loved kids. She was fun-loving. 'She just enjoyed her life, enjoyed doing what made her happy. 'I was younger than her by two years, but we were like twins. She even taught me how to read and write. 'The last time I spoke to her was the Friday before this happened. I remember her every day.'