Cat Deeley moved to tears on This Morning as mother opens up on daughter's death

This Morning star Cat Deeley was overcome with emotion while consoling a devastated mother who lost her daughter to a fatal allergic reaction.

Abimbola Duyile recounted the heartbreaking tale of how her 13-year-old daughter Hannah Jacobs tragically died after inadvertently consuming dairy on February 8, 2023. Hannah, with a known allergy to dairy, took a sip of a drink and soon became ill.

Her mother appeared on This Morning to share her story and issued a plea for coffee shops and eateries to enforce changes to prevent similar tragedies in other families.

Describing the harrowing events, Abimbola recalled: "I rushed to the [pharmacy] counter and said, 'My daughter's having an allergic reaction. I don't mind paying for it [an epipen] but right now, I just need to give it to her'. She was still screaming in pain and someone said to me, 'Did you need an ambulance? ' And I said, 'Just give me a minute' because she's never had a severe one before."

In a poignant admission, Abimbola remembered the frantic moments trying to help her daughter at the pharmacy, saying: "It was like a movie. They didn't have the correct amount to give her," while both she and presenter Cat Deeley were visibly teary-eyed.

As the situation escalated, a bystander called for an ambulance, and paramedics arrived to apply a defibrillatorar. She remembers thinking: "This is not happening. I lost it. My whole life came crashing down in five minutes. It was very quick," reports the Mirror.

At the time, Costa issued a statement which read: "The loss of Hannah is a tragedy, and our heartfelt thoughts remain with her family and friends. Understanding how this awful situation occurred is in the interest of everyone.

"We have listened to everything the coroner has said this week and will carefully consider her comments together with any report she may issue and respond appropriately."

A coroner has determined that Hannah's death resulted from a "failure to follow the processes in place to discuss allergies". Dr Shirley Radcliffe, an assistant coroner, concluded: "The root cause of this death is a failure to follow the processes in place to discuss allergies combined with a failure of communication between the mother and the barista."

In the aftermath of the inquest, Hannah's mother said that her daughter was "extremely diligent" regarding her allergies. In a heartfelt tribute, she spoke of Hannah as being "vivacious, caring, affectionate, energetic, and outspoken... with a strong sense of right and wrong," and added: "My beautiful Hannah only had 13 years on this Earth when she should have had many, many more."

*This Morning airs on weekdays from 10am on ITV1.