UK trainee pilot, 21, dies after getting bitten on forehead by mosquito resulting in brain infection

A very rare case.

Belmont Lay | July 08, 2022, 01:40 PM

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A 21-year-old trainee pilot from the United Kingdom died after she was bitten on her forehead by a mosquito that led to an infection in the brain, an inquest hearing concluded, the BBC reported.

On her way to becoming a pilot

Oriana Pepper, who hailed from Bury St Edmunds in Suffolk, was going to become a commercial airline pilot and had passed her theory exams on the EasyJet programme in Oxford.

She had travelled as a trainee to Belgium for her instrument ratings and was bitten by a mosquito there, according to The Independent.

Brain infection due to mosquito bite on forehead

The inquest heard that Pepper was bitten by a mosquito on her forehead in Antwerp and subsequently hospitalised on July 7, 2021.

The infection spread after that.

Doctors prescribed antibiotics but they did not work.

Two days later, she collapsed in front of her boyfriend who had to rush her to the hospital again.

Pepper died in hospital on July 21, 2021.

Coroner's findings

According to The Independent, the trainee pilot died “as a result of a serious infection caused by an insect bite to the forehead”, citing Suffolk’s senior coroner Nigel Parsley on July 6.

Parsley said: “An infection has entered Oriana’s skin following a bite by an insect. It’s then gone into the carotid artery of the neck and led to septic emboli in her brain.”

He added: “I’ve never seen a case like this before.”

“It’s just one of those things that’s just such an unfortunate tragedy for a young lady who clearly had a wonderful career and life ahead of her.”

Set up scholarship

Pepper’s parents attended the inquest and issued a statement that said their daughter "loved nothing better than to go flying with her dad and her brother", who is also a trainee commercial pilot.

Pepper's father said: “She had met someone she loved, she was training to be a commercial pilot and was fulfilling her dreams.”

The late trainee pilot’s mother said, in memory of Pepper, the family had set up a small scholarship to encourage other women pilots’ to enter the profession, working with the British Women Pilots’ Association.

Top photos via The Independent