A TEENAGER died just hours after eating prawns during a family dinner at a Chinese restaurant.

Sam Collings, aged 19, from Moss Lane, Smithills, had no idea he had an allergy when he ordered the fish dish at a restaurant in Darwen last year.

Despite emergency treatment the aspiring painter and decorator suffered catastrophic organ failure and died the following morning - just two weeks before his 20th birthday.

Following an inquest into his death, Sam's family said they "could not have asked for a better son".

His father Steven Collings said: “The family is broken up beyond words by what has happened.”

Sam was eating dinner with his family on August 3, 2019, when when he ate a prawn starter dish which caused a severe reaction.

The problems were not immediately apparent and it was not until the student was out with his friends more than an hour later that he complained of difficulty breathing.

His condition quickly became worse and when paramedics arrived they found he had suffered from a heart attack brought on by anaphylactic shock.

An inquest at Lancashire Coroners yesterday heard that the family had never suspected that Sam suffered from any serious allergies.

He had occasionally complained of a “scratchy throat” when eating prawns or eggs but the problems subsided quickly.

“I note the history that Samuel was never formally diagnosed with severe allergic reactions,” area coroner James Newman said. “Mr Collings suffered a cardiac arrest after an anaphylactic reaction to eating prawns. He had only the slightest history of any such allergy and no history of a serious reaction to previously consumed prawns.”

According to a post mortem, the heart attack caused Sam to suffer from catastrophic multiple organ failure which ultimately led to his death.

After going through written evidence from doctors who treated Sam, Mr Newman concluded that his death was the result of an accident which could not have been anticipated by either his family or medical professionals.

“The level of his reaction couldn’t have been predicted by the evidence available to him,” he concluded.

“Despite maximal medical therapy, he passed away at the Royal Bolton Hospital on the 4th of August 2019 as a result of the anaphylaxis.”