Mother's agony as nine-year-old tennis star daughter with severe dairy allergy died after eating ham sandwich during family picnic
- Sadie Bristow went into anaphylactic shock on day out to Whistable Castle
- Her family, from Chartham, Kent, desperately tried to save her but it was too late
- Mother Claire, 42, has revealed she had to decide whether to donate her organs
The mother of a nine-year-old girl with allergies who died after eating a ham sandwich has spoken of her devastating loss.
Sadie Bristow was on a family picnic at Whistable Castle in Kent on August 19 last year when she started to feel unwell.
She told her mother Claire, 42, and father Stewart, 44, her mouth was tingling and they desperately tried to wash her mouth out and give her her EpiPen.
But Sadie, who was ranked Britain's best tennis player for her age, went into anaphylactic shock, causing her brain to swell and deprive her of oxygen.
Sadie Bristow was on a family picnic at Whistable Castle in Kent on August 19 last year when she started to feel the effects of an allergic reaction, quickly going into anaphylactic shock
Her mother Claire (pictured behind with her older sister Charlotte and baby siter April) tried to save her, but her brain swelled up and doctors were unable to do anything for her
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Mrs Bristow told The Sun: 'We were devastated. The swelling in her brain and the lack of oxygen meant she was beyond the point of recovery.
'We had a heartbreaking discussion about organ donation and made the tough decision to donate her heart valves, liver, pancreas and small intestines to four adults in need.'
Sadie was allergic to dairy products, but it is not known what caused her to go into shock. Her mother had given her some ham and some bread earlier that day.
Sadie's parents rushed her to a medical centre in Whitstable where doctors decided to rush her to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Margate.
She fell into a critical condition and was airlifted to St George's Hopsital in London where she later died.
Her heartbroken father, Stewart said at the time: 'She was just playing outside when she came in and told us she wasn't well.
'We decided she needed to go to hospital and took her ourselves to the Estuary View Medical Centre in Whitstable because it was quickest and from there she went to Margate Hospital and then St George's.
Pictured: Sadie, nine, is pictured on a family holiday before her tragic death in 2018
'Anaphylactic shock shuts down the airways very quickly and she did not respond to treatment despite being administered with 16 shots of adrenaline, which is the first course of action.
'It is very rare and I think even the doctors were taken aback by the speed of it.'
Mr Bristow, who teaches tennis at the King's School Recreation Centre in Canterbury and the Bridge Tennis Club in Bridge, Kent - where Sadie played - last year paid tribute to her on her JustGiving: 'Sadie was an inspiration and we wish to carry on inspiring in her name.
'Sadie, at the end of the 2018 summer season, was ranked no1 UK under 9 girl.
'Her passion, drive and determination got her there and we will do all we can in the same spirit to set up a charitable organisation or foundation in her name.
'To carry on with her passion in tennis. To aid allergy understanding, research and prevention.
'Thank you ever so much to everyone. The donations so generously given here will help us hugely and we are so ever grateful for the support and love that is giving us courage.
'It will help immensely for us to get back together. All our love, Stewart, Clare, Charlotte and April xx'.
Sadie was a tennis champion and played at the Bridge Tennis Club in Bridge, Kent
