An easyJet trainee pilot died after she was bitten by a mosquito and developed an infection that spread to her brain, an inquest heard.
Oriana Pepper, 21, from Bury St Edmunds, had a “wonderful career and life ahead of her” after passing her theory exams on the airline’s training programme.
But while training in Belgium, she was bitten by a mosquito on her forehead and it appeared swollen and infected, an inquest heard.
She went to AG on July 7, 2021 and was prescribed antibiotics.
But Mrs Pepper was returned to hospital two days later by her boyfriend James Hall after she collapsed and she died three days later.
Suffolk Coroner Nigel Parsley, recording a statement, said Mrs Pepper died “as a result of a serious infection caused by an insect bite on the forehead”.
He told her parents: “I have never seen such a case before.
“It’s just one of those things that is such an unfortunate tragedy for a young lady who obviously had a wonderful career and life ahead of her.”
Her medical cause of death was listed as septic embolism to the brain, which is a blockage of blood vessels, with an infection from a bacteria called staphylococcus aureus and an insect bite on the forehead also contributing.
In a statement read at the inquest, Mr Pepper said his daughter “loved nothing more than flying with her father and her brother Oliver, also a trainee commercial pilot”.
He said his daughter describes flying as “having an office in the sky in the clouds”.
He added: “She had met someone she loved, she was training to be a commercial pilot and fulfilling her dreams.”
Her mother told the inquest that in her daughter’s memory they had “set up a small scholarship to encourage other female pilots” to enter the profession, working with the British Women Pilots Association.
“It’s a positive thing in her life,” she said.
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