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Thorpe Morieux trainee pilot Oriana Pepper, 21, died of serious infection caused by insect bite, inquest rules




A Suffolk trainee commercial pilot who was 'an incredible young woman' died after an insect bite, an inquest heard.

Oriana Louisa Pepper, 21, of Thorpe Morieux near Bury St Edmunds, died on July 12 last year in an Antwerp hospital in Belgium.

An inquest at Suffolk Coroner's Court in Ipswich today heard that she was bitten by an insect on the forehead while in the country for training and became unwell.

Oriana Pepper, 21, of Thorpe Morieux, who died after an insect bite. Picture submitted by the Pepper family
Oriana Pepper, 21, of Thorpe Morieux, who died after an insect bite. Picture submitted by the Pepper family

Miss Pepper was later admitted to hospital, where her condition deteriorated and she died.

Senior coroner Nigel Parsley concluded that she died as the result of a serious infection caused by an insect bite to the forehead.

Mr Parsley said he had never seen a case like this before which he described as a 'tragedy'.

Miss Pepper's mother and father, Tristan and Louisa, attended Suffolk Coroner's Court today.

In a statement from Mr Pepper, read by Mr Parsley, he said his daughter was born seven weeks premature on February 11, 2000 at Ipswich Hospital with her twin brother, Oscar.

Weighing only 2lb 8oz, Miss Pepper and her brother were then transferred to the special care baby unit at West Suffolk Hospital in Bury St Edmunds.

Mr Pepper said she always had an ambition to succeed and excelled in the likes of running, hockey and playing piano at school as well as achieving nine A* at GCSE level.

He said: "First impressions would make you think she was shy, but she was taking everything in."

She always had dreams of becoming a pilot and enjoyed flying – calling her dream job 'having an office in the sky amongst the clouds'.

Ms Pepper joined CAE Aviation Academy in Oxford, on their EasyJet programme, with her training taking her to Pheonix, Arizona in the USA in August 2020 – where she achieved averages of around 90 per cent in her exams.

In May 20 last year, her and her boyfriend James Hall went to Antwerp for instrument training.

Mr Hall said in his written statement that they had both been bitten by insects a number of times whilst they were there.

She was bitten by an insect on her forehead, near to her right eye, felt unwell and attended hospital on July 7.

She was not admitted but did receive intravenous antibiotics.

Two days later she returned to the hospital, saying she still felt unwell and was then admitted.

On July 11, her parents arrived in Belgium as Miss Pepper's condition deteriorated and they were told the infection from the bite on her right eye had entered her brain.

She was given surgery to try and relieve the pressure but they were told she was dying.

Miss Pepper died on July 12.

Closing Mr Pepper's statement, he said his only daughter had 'everything to live for' and was 'an incredible young woman.'

Mr Parsley said the cause of Miss Pepper's death was given in three stages: a septic emboli to her brain due to the bacteria Staphylococcus aureus, bilateral infection of the carotid arteries and cellulitis of the face following the insect bite with Staphylococcus aureus.

Speaking after the inquest, Mrs Pepper said they had set up a JustGiving page as a tribute to their daughter for Ipswich and Bury St Edmunds hospital's special care baby units and to launch an annual scholarship with the British Women Pilots' Assocation to help and encourage other aspiring female pilots to consider the profession.

The now closed page raised £7,340 after only having a target of £500.

Miss Pepper leaves behind her mother, father, twin brother Oscar and older brother Oliver.