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MP allergic reaction
Jo Swinson said her life was saved by doctors at Glasgow’s Southern General hospital who injected her with adrenaline. Photograph: Yui Mok/PA
Jo Swinson said her life was saved by doctors at Glasgow’s Southern General hospital who injected her with adrenaline. Photograph: Yui Mok/PA

MP with nut allergy almost dies after eating biscuit

This article is more than 10 years old
Equalities minister Jo Swinson recovering after going into shock from an allergic reaction, according to reports

Equalities minister Jo Swinson is recovering after almost dying from an allergic reaction to a biscuit, it has been reported.

The Liberal Democrat MP for East Dunbartonshire was driving home from a charity cake sale in Glasgow on Saturday when she unknowingly began eating a biscuit that contained nuts.

Her body "almost instantly" began tingling and before long went into anaphylactic shock, she told the Scotsman.

Her mother drove her to Glasgow's Southern General hospital, where doctors injected her with own EpiPen, an emergency adrenaline injector, after she collapsed, struggling for breath.

"I had taken the precaution of writing out what had happened in case my throat swelled up so much I couldn't speak," she told the newspaper.

She has suffered from a peanut allergy for 30 years but said this was the worst reaction she had suffered.

"It's difficult to always know whether something contains nuts or not – and this time I got it wrong," she said.

"It was a very scary experience. Luckily, once you get the right treatment you recover very quickly from it – but the bottom line is that if you don't get help, you can die."

Swinson later took to her Facebook page to praise hospital staff and warned other allergy sufferers always to carry their EpiPen.

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