A 21-year-old British pilot trainee has reportedly died as a result of a mosquito bite on her forehead that eventually led to an infection in her brain.
According to reports, Pilot in training Oriana Pepper’s, ordeal began when she travelled to Antwerp, Belgium last year where its reported that she was bitten several times by a mosquito without any reaction.
After while Pepper is said to have later reported a red mark and a soreness in her eyebrow, along with a “dull ache” in her back.
She was later taken to the emergency room after the bite reportedly became swollen and infected, where she was prescribed antibiotics as per the New York times
She was again rushed to the ER after collapsing two days later on July 9, and subsequently passed on July 12.
Following the incident an inquest in Pepper’s hometown of Suffolk, UK, was told Pepper died “as a result of a serious infection caused by an insect bite to the forehead”.
In a statement which was released on Wednesday, almost a year after the tragedy senior coroner Nigel Parsley shared that the autopsy revealed that Pepper died of a septic emboli – an obstruction of a blood vessel typically caused by an infection that has travelled through the bloodstream”, he said adding “as a result of a serious infection caused by an insect bite to the forehead”.
Her parents, Tristan and Louisa Pepper, issued an emotional statement about their daughter: “loved nothing better than to go flying with her dad and her brother Oliver, also a trainee commercial pilot.”
Oriana went on to thrive despite obstacles being put in her way. However problematic these obstacles were she used her determination to find a way around them,” he wrote.
“As a young teenager Oriana decided she wanted to be a commercial pilot and after completing her A levels she joined a flight training school, having been selected by Easyjet. Oriana worked hard and passed all her theory exams with excellent marks. She then travelled to Pheonix, Arizona where she completed her private pilot’s license and her Commercial Pilot’s License. In May 2021 she travelled to Antwerp, Belgium to carry out her instrument rating. In July 2021 Oriana was taken ill with an infection and she passed away on 12 July with her adoring parents by her bedside. She was aged just 21.”
