Love Island star calls for nut ban on planes and tells ITV News he 'could have died'

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Love Island star Jack Fowler called for nuts to be taken off in-flight menus after a terrifying ordeal at 40,000 feet where his throat closed up and he could barely breathe.

Speaking to ITV News London Jack recalled the moment he was given five tanks of oxygen and injected with a shot of adrenaline.

The reality star, who appeared on the ITV2 show in 2018, had a severe allergic reaction on an Emirates flight to Dubai after a chicken curry he was served had nuts in it.

Fowler said he flagged his severe allergy twice and was reassured the meal did not contain nuts.

"I can't believe it happened. I'm allergic to nuts and I have been since I was seven," Jack told ITV News London.

"On the flight I was mistakenly given a cashew nut and I said twice I'm allergic to nuts. My friend was next to me as well and also reiterated that.

"As soon as I had the the chicken curry I knew straight away that there was something wrong," he explained.

After Jack insisted on looking at the menu, he said it read: “Creamy cashew nut chicken curry.”

He described the horrifying moment his throat "immediately closed up" and accused the airline of "complete negligence," adding: "I think so many things could have prevented it from happening. And I was just fighting for my life."

Jack said cabin crew didn't appear to understand what was going on as he desperately tried to explain he was in "big trouble".

He was already fearing the worst and thinking if there wasn't a doctor on board he could even die.

"I knew that if I didn't get treatment soon, I was going to die and that was extremely terrifying - so scary," Jack explained.

"I could see the scared faces in front of me and that didn't help.

"But ultimately it could have been prevented and that's the thing it can be prevented if people just take take a step back and go - I don't know if there's nuts in this, but I'm going to go and find out! That would have saved everyone," he added.

The reality star said all airlines should simply take nuts off in-flight menus to avoid it happening again to someone else.

He added: "There are so many people with allergies and it's only getting worse.

"There are case studies happening now where more young people than ever are having reactions to to food.

"How long is the longest flight maybe to Australia, maybe 24 hours? Can people not last 24 hours without having a peanut?"

A spokesperson for Emirates airline said they were sorry to hear of Mr Fowler’s experience and their teams on ground were providing him with "all possible assistance," adding: "The safety and health of our customers is taken very seriously.

"While Emirates aims to cater to customers with specific needs by offering a variety of special meals that cover medical, dietary, and religious requirements, we cannot guarantee a nut-free in-flight environment.

"We urge travellers with dietary or other medical requirements to check our website and consult their doctor before travel."

Jack told ITV News London that passengers board airlines with "faith and hope" and should feel safe that people looking after us know what they're doing.

"I've had a lot of response from people supporting me and a lot of people direct messaging and commenting on my Instagram post that they've had similar stories or they've had scares where negligence has caused them to have a reaction," he said.

"And the vast majority of people are also just scared to board a plane because for someone who has such a severe allergy, being 40,000ft up with no doctor is the worst case scenario," Jack added.

Unscripted is ITV News' arts and entertainment podcast, brought to you by ITV News Arts Editor Nina Nannar. In each episode, Nina speaks to a leading name from the world of arts and entertainment.