Allergic reaction to hair dye kills Jamaican born UK Lady

Allergic reaction kills.If this sounds like an implausible means of dying, that’s because it is- but that may have been what happened to Atasha Graham, a Jamaican born UK national.

A doctor told the inquest into her death that she may have had an allergic reaction to the glue used to apply her hair extensions, after a night out dancing left her perspiring, possibly
leading to the substance entering her bloodstream and triggering an allergic reaction.

As the Daily Mail reports, Dr Michael Heath, who examined her, has ruled out other possible causes of death, such as food or alcohol poisoning, and also found no drugs in her system.

With no other causes available, Dr Heath thinks she might have developed an allergic reaction to glue used in her hair extensions. He said he has seen similar cases in the past few months.

“I’ve seen cases where people using solvent to apply extensions has actually caused anaphylactic shock.” He told the inquest.

“There are about ten to 20 deaths a year in this country, many more in America. I have seen four in the last three months.”

He said the reaction could not have been from the extensions themselves, since she has been wearing them for years- but the solvent used to attach it.

Graham died last year, after a night out with her boyfriend. She collapsed upon reaching home, and died at the hospital later. Nothing was found in her system that would indicate what triggered her death.

“He…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.”

“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.

“The hair used in hair extensions may have caused the death of Atasha Graham.

“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.”