Trainee easyJet pilot, Oriana Pepper died after she was bitten by a mosquito on her forehead

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Trainee easyJet pilot, Oriana Pepper died after she was bitten by a mosquito on her forehead

A trainee commercial airline pilot died after she was bitten by a mosquito and developed an infection which spread to her brain, an inquest heard.

Oriana Pepper, 21, of Bury St Edmunds in Suffolk, had passed her theory exams on the easyJet programme in Oxford with flying colours and had gone to Belgium for her instrument ratings.

While in Antwerp she was bitten by a mosquito on her forehead, by her right eye, and it appeared swollen and infected, Wednesday’s hearing in Ipswich was told.

She attended a hospital’s accident and emergency department on July 7, 2021 and was prescribed antibiotics.

Miss Pepper was driven back to the hospital two days later by her boyfriend James Hall after she collapsed.

She died in hospital three days later on July 12, 2021.

Suffolk’s senior coroner Nigel Parsley, recording a narrative conclusion, said Miss Pepper died ‘as a result of a serious infection caused by an insect bite to the forehead’.

Her medical cause of death was recorded as septic emboli in the brain, which are obstructions of blood vessels, with an infection by bacteria called staphylococcus aureus and an insect bite to the forehead also contributing.

In a statement read during the inquest, Mr Pepper said his daughter ‘loved nothing better than to go flying with her dad and her brother Oliver, also a trainee commercial pilot’.

He said his daughter described flying as ‘having an office in the sky amongst the clouds’.

He added: ‘She had met someone she loved, she was training to be a commercial pilot and was fulfilling her dreams.’