Ella Kissi-Debrah Wiki – Ella Kissi-Debrah Biography
Ella Kissi-Debrah was a nine-year-old girl who lived 25 meters from the South Circular Road in south-east London. She lived near the South Circular Road in Lewisham, south-east London, died in 2013.
Ella was first taken to hospital in 2010 after a coughing fit and subsequently admitted to hospital 27 times.
Ms. Kissi-Debrah said that by the summer of 2012, Ella was classified as disabled. She often had to carry Ella by piggyback to get her around.
Ella was seen by consultants at six different hospitals in the years before her death.
Age
Ella Kissi-Debrah has died at the age of 9 years old
Toxic air
A 2018 report found unlawful levels of pollution likely contributed to a fatal asthma attack.
At a new inquest into Ella’s death, Rosamund Adoo Kissi-Debrah said her daughter was “the center of our world”.
Ms. Kissi-Debrah said “moving would have been the first thing” the family would have done if they had known the risks air pollution posed to Ella.
She told the inquest she knew about car fumes but had never heard of nitrogen oxides (NOx) – one of the most dangerous forms of air pollution. As they did not know of the risks posed by air pollution Ms. Kissi-Debrah said she never spoke to doctors about moving.
Ms. Kissi-Debrah branded air pollution “a public health emergency”, and called for more education about its dangers.
Ella was first taken to hospital in 2010 after a coughing fit and subsequently admitted to hospital 27 times.
Ms. Kissi-Debrah said that by the summer of 2012, Ella was classified as disabled. She often had to carry Ella by piggyback to get her around.
Ella was seen by consultants at six different hospitals in the years before her death.
On the day before Ella died Ms. Kissi-Debrah described her daughter “screaming” as she left her with paramedics.
“When I saw her in the ambulance I knew she was going to have a seizure, she was so bad,” Ms. Kissi-Debrah said.
Describing the efforts of doctors to resuscitate Ella on the night of her death, she said: “They tried and they tried and they tried.”
Death
Ella died at 03:27 on 15 February 2013.
Cause
An inquest in 2014, which focused on Ella’s medical care, concluded her death was caused by acute respiratory failure and severe asthma. But a 2018 report said it was likely unlawful levels of pollution, which were detected at a monitoring station one mile from Ella’s home, contributed to her fatal asthma attack.
Ella may become the first person in the UK for whom air pollution is listed as the cause of death.
