Love Island star Jack Fowler has told fans about an allergic reaction he had during a flight.
He said his throat closed and he felt his tongue begin to swell “within seconds” of being served ice cream containing nuts on a flight, despite reminding staff several times that he had a life-threatening allergy.
The 27-year-old said he is “extremely lucky” to have immediately noticed something was wrong with the vanilla ice cream.
He said he spat it out before realising that there were crushed pistachio nuts hidden within the ice cream.
Love Island star Jack Fowler suffers allergic reaction to nuts on flight
Fowler also said he was left struggling to breathe and that this was the second time during his flight with Qatar Airways that he had been served nuts, having been offered a pastry with nuts after boarding the plane.
He wrote on Instagram: “I told @qatarairways hostess’s five times I was anaphylactic to nuts (life threatening allergy). As well as asking for reassurance when every meal was served to me, that it was nut free.
“To be given nuts TWICE is such a massive failure from @qatarairways. Within seconds I couldn’t breath properly after eating the crushed pistachio nuts beneath my vanilla Ice cream.
“My throat closed and my tongue felt like it was swelling. I was told the vanilla ice cream was my safest option. It wasn’t. @qatarairways you have failed in so many ways. I’m extremely lucky. The next person might not be.”
The former reality TV contestant used the post to warn all airlines that more should be done to protect those with severe dietary requirements.
The ice cream incident came one hour after Fowler had detailed on social media what he thought was a lucky escape after avoiding nuts on the pastry he was served.
He wrote on his Instagram story: “I told my airhost at the beginning of the flight that I am anaphylactic to all nuts (extremely allergic to nuts). He made a note and assured me it wouldn’t be a problem.
“After selecting my meals, I was later served pastries with nuts on it. Thankfully I spotted them and didn’t eat it. And when notifying my hostess about it, he was extremely sorry.
“But this is the kind of situation could’ve gone soooo bad. Me eating a nut in the air despite me even taking an EpiPen, would have caused me to have a serious shock and quite possibly die.
“We would have had to divert and land in order for me to get treated in time. Moral of this story is: If you’re a flight attendant reading this, make sure you have a system that works and prevents this type of this from happening.”
Jack Fowler encourages others to speak up about dietary requirements
He also used the post to encourage other allergy-sufferers to speak up and not to “feel like you are being a nuisance” for having a dietary requirement.
Fellow Love Island stars Montana Brown, Ellie Brown, Wes Nelson and Kaz Crossley all shared messages of relief that Fowler had survived the incident on Instagram.
Musician Tom Zanetti also commented, saying: “That’s insane. Glad u knew what u was u doing and glad ur ok pal.”
A spokesperson for Qatar Airways said: “Passenger health and safety is of paramount importance to Qatar Airways and we require all passengers with severe food allergies to notify the airline no less than 48 hours in advance of flying with a completed medical information form (MEDIF) as instructed on our website.
“The airline will work with the passenger to reduce the risk of contamination but as flights are public, an allergen-free environment is not guaranteed.
“We are aware of an issue concerning a passenger who had a reaction to nuts on board and are investigating the incident.”
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