A mother has told of her horror at watching her son die when a curry triggered an unknown food allergy.

Sam Pettett, 22, had not suffered from allergies before eating the takeaway with his family. But the curry triggered an extreme and rare reaction which suffocated and choked him.

Sam, of Edward Street, Hove, was holidaying with his family at Centre Parcs in Suffolk last December.

The curry the family had been enjoying was made up of chicken dansak, chicken korma, rice, bombay potato, pappadams, naan bread and chicken tikka.

But an unknown ingredient caused an allergic reaction that left Sam with swollen lips.

His devastated mother Angela thought he was having an asthma attack but he went red in the face and complained his tongue and throat were sore. As his condition worsened, paramedics gave him an injection of adrenalin but it was too late.

Mrs Pettett said: "We went away feeling so safe and happy.

"We had no prior knowledge of Sam having food allergies and to come back without him was terrible.

"I am a trained first aider but there was nothing, apart from trying to keep him calm, that I could do.

"As his mother, it has been a complete nightmare. I wake up every day thinking I should have done something more.

"It is very difficult for me to see it as just one of those things. I can't accept that."

Sam and his fiancee Caroline Powell lived with Mrs Pettett, her husband Jeffrey and his older sister Louisa.

Mrs Pettett said: "He should have been on holiday in Hawaii with his fiancee by now. They had so many plans and they were so happy.

"We are just a small, close family. I haven't got the words to describe how this has left us feeling."

Mrs Pettett said people should be tested for food allergies through GPs. She said: "People should know. They think they're safe but they're not."

At an inquest on Wednesday, pathologist Dr Sheila Purdy said Sam had an unusually high level of antibodies, which showed he had suffered an allergic reaction.

An earlier injection of adrenalin may have saved him but had not been possible.

Coroner Dr Peter Dean recorded a narrative verdict, saying Mr Pettett died from a severe allergic reaction that could not be identified.