London’s air was the ‘silent killer’ of my daughter, claims mother

Pic:Ella, dead aged nine, with Rosamund Kissi-Debrah, who wants a new inquest
Staff reporter(wp/es):

The mother of a young girl who died after repeated asthma attacks today called London’s filthy air a “silent killer” as she vowed to fight for answers.

Lewisham schoolgirl Ella Kissi-Debrah, nine, died in February 2013 after suffering years of coughing fits and seizures her mother Rosamund believes were triggered by the capital’s smog.

An inquest into the “healthy” Holbeach primary pupil’s death found she had died from acute respiratory failure but did not establish the cause of her asthma. 

Speaking after the fourth anniversary of her death, Ms Kissi-Debrah said “the public need to know” about the dangers of air pollution. She is now calling for a second inquest to be held in the light of more recent information about the capital’s pollution levels. 

Ms Kissie-Debrah said: “We believe it is in the public interest. When she passed away four years ago, there was none of the publicity around pollution levels that there is now. So much has happened since then.

“We want a new inquest. The pollution levels were never brought up in the original inquest, and so we want a new one to prove if it had an effect.

“It’s a silent killer, and the public need to know about it.”

Ms Kissi-Debrah, who lives near the South Circular in Hither Green, is now seeking medical experts to examine samples of Ella’s remains held at Great Ormond Street Hospital that may prove the link between her death and the capital’s air.

She is being helped by human rights lawyer Joceyln Cockburn, who represented the family of murdered teenager Stephen Lawrence.

Last week Mayor Sadiq Khan announced a £10 levy on heavy-polluting diesel vehicles driving in the capital, in a bid to tackle London’s filthy air.

In January areas of the city were put on alert after levels of dangerous particulate matter, which can cause heart and lung disease, were found to be higher than Beijing. 

More than 9,000 Londoners are believed to suffer an early death due to air pollution.

Ms Kissi-Debrah, who has postponed plans to sue the Mayor of London’s office over Ella’s death in the hope of a second inquest, said: “No one knows who these 9,000 people are. But people can put a face to my daughter.

“When she was alive, we never thought about pollution levels then. This is a test case — if we get a new inquest, and if we prove it, that will open the floodgates.”

“It’s massive, if we prove that it was the pollution levels. On the day she died, the pollution levels were incredibly high. That’s one thing we do know.”