‘Long and painful journey’ for official apology for Ella’s pollution-related death

The mother of a girl who died of a pollution-related asthma attack has accepted the Government’s apology over her daughter’s death and vowed to continue fighting for clean air.

Rosamund Adoo-Kissi-Debrah said it had been an “incredibly long and painful journey” to the point where what happened to her daughter was officially acknowledged and put air pollution on the map as a public health crisis.

Nine-year-old Ella Adoo-Kissi-Debrah, from south-east London, suffered a fatal asthma attack in February 2013 after being exposed to extreme air pollution.

In the coroner’s landmark case in 2020, Ella, who lived 25 meters from the busy South Circular Road in Lewisham, became the first person to list air pollution as a cause of death at a UK inquest.

Ella’s estate, of which Ms Adoo-Kissi-Debrah served as administrator, sued the Department for the Environment (Defra), the Department for Transport and the Department for Health and Social Care for damages for her “illness and premature death”.

Three Government departments settled the claim, submitted by law firm Hodge Jones & Allen for an undisclosed sum, and issued a statement to Ms Adoo-Kissi-Debrah saying “we are truly sorry for your loss” and that no child should suffer like this. Ella did it.

Ms Adoo-Kissi-Debrah and Ella’s siblings, 17-year-old twins Robert and Sophia, had a meeting with environment minister Emma Hardy at Defra offices in London on Thursday as part of the deal.

Speaking later, Ms Adoo-Kissi-Debrah said it was a “bittersweet” moment to receive the Government’s apology.

He said: “We got an apology from the Mayor, we got an apology from the Government. This will never bring Ella back. We’re heading into Christmas, it’s always a difficult time.

“But I think it’s important for the general public that air pollution is an invisible killer, and this is helping bring it to light.

“While this will not bring Ella back, we finally accept that this is an acknowledgment of what happened to her and as we look at the NHS it puts the issue of air pollution clearly on the map as a public health crisis and something needs to be done about it.

“Today is finally over but I will continue and the Government have assured me they will continue to work with me to clear the air.”

As ministers grapple with the crisis in the NHS, he has highlighted the role of air pollution in cancer, obesity and other diseases, warning: “You can’t top the NHS unless you clean the air. ”

He also said there was an economic argument for tackling air pollution that keeps people sick from work: “This is affecting the health of the country, it’s a public health crisis.”

He warned that despite seven million people dying prematurely every year, Ella remained the only person with air pollution on her death certificate and was informed that another child had died of asthma in London.

“No child should die in 2024,” he told reporters outside Defra.

“This isn’t just about Ella, this is about all the kids.”

Ms Adoo-Kissi-Debrah said she had received assurances at the meeting, which lasted more than the expected 30 minutes, that the Government would take the issue of air pollution seriously.

He said he was pressing for a public health campaign and that it was important to educate people about the “invisible” threat posed by air pollution, following debate over the expansion of London’s Ulez clean air zone.

The Clean Air Act is still needed, he added.

“For me, this is about the health of the nation. This has nothing to do with Ella. There’s air pollution on his death certificate and that’s the most I can do for him.

“This is about you now, it’s about me, it’s about our children who are most vulnerable, and that includes the elderly.”

A letter to Ms Adoo-Kissi-Debrah from the three departments involved in the legal case said the Government was “truly sorry for your loss” and expressed its sincere condolences to Ella, Ella’s siblings and everyone who knew her.

A statement from the three ministers’ ministers acknowledged that “no child should suffer as Ella did” and said: “Losing a loved one at such a young age is an immeasurable loss.

“The tireless work undertaken by Ella’s family and friends, especially you, her mother, over the years has shed much-needed light on the dangers posed by air pollution.

“Air pollution is a public health issue that this Government is committed to tackling,” the statement said, adding that Ms. Adoo-Kissi-Debrah helped ensure that the issue was firmly on the Government agenda.