Woman in coma after colouring her hair is dead

A YORKSHIRE mother who fell into a coma after colouring her hair at home has died in hospital.

Julie McCabe died at Airedale Hospital nearly Keighley after being on a life-support machine for more than a year following a suspected allergic reaction to L’Oreal Preference hair dye last October.

Mrs McCabe never recovered and died with her family at her beside on Thursday.

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Shortly after she lapsed into the coma, her family blamed paraphenylenediamine (PPD) – a chemical found in hair dyes – for her extreme reaction.

There has been no definitive link made with the L’Oreal product but doctors caring for Mrs McCabe asked for the kit and gloves she used so they could carry out tests and the cosmetics giant offered to assist the medical staff with any information and launched an investigation.

Last night, a company spokesman said: “L’Oréal is sad to hear the news about Mrs McCabe and offers its sincere condolences to her family.

“The company cannot comment on the details of this tragic case.”

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Mrs McCabe’s husband Russell, 45, and children Luke, 21, and Abigail, 16, had kept a bedside vigil at hospital where she was given round-the-clock care.

On the day of the tragedy 
the 38-year-old estate agent had been rinsing the dye off after 
the recommended 20 minutes when she began struggling to breathe.

Speaking shortly after the initial incident, her father Keith Miller said: “She finished dyeing her hair and said I don’t feel well, I can’t breathe’, to her husband. He rushed her to hospital.

“She is in a coma. We’ve spoken to the doctors and they have more or less said to us the condition she is in now is most likely how she will stay. They are not giving us much hope. It’s hard to take in.”

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Mr Miller said he believed a chemical called para-phenylenediamine caused his daughter’s condition.

“The hospital have asked for the dye and the gloves she used.

“They have said she has suffered an allergic reaction.”

Her mother Brenda added: “She had been dyeing her hair and went down to get something to eat before she had to rinse it off.

“After about 20 minutes she went back upstairs but found she couldn’t get a breath. She called her husband and he took her outside for some fresh air but she still couldn’t get a breath.”

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He drove her in his car and during the journey she was sick and inhaled vomit into her lungs, causing her heart to stop.

PPD is used in many permanent hair dyes because it binds firmly to the hair and does not wash out.

Allergic reactions are understood to occur in only one in 250,000 people. The effect is usually a mild rash but reactions can be severe, causing serious skin irritations or even anaphylaxis.

Under EU rules, in Britain PPD can constitute six per cent of a hair dye but campaigners have been pushing for tighter regulation.

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An allergic reaction does not necessarily happen the first time a product is used and can appear
after several uses.

Dye users are advised to do a “patch test”, applying a small amount of it to their skin 48 hours before treatment every time they use it.

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