The devastated mother of an Australian boy who died on a camping trip to the NSW Central Coast has revealed a shocking new theory behind his tragic death.

Jeremy Webb was just 16 years old when he died after eating beef sausages on a camping trip with three friends at MacMasters Beach in June 2022.

The friends had cooked the sausages over a campfire but by 11 p.m., Jeremy had started having difficulty breathing and subsequently collapsed on his way to seek help from an adult in a nearby caravan.

His friends tried to resuscitate him, but he was tragically pronounced dead just an hour-and-a-half later at Gosford Hospital.

The teen’s cause of death was initially determined to be from asthma, but a coronial inquest is now probing whether his death was caused by the sausages after he was posthumously diagnosed with mammalian meat allergy.

Mammalian meat allergy is a tick-induced condition, and is a potentially life-threatening allergy to mammalian meats such as beef, pork and lamb, and sometimes in gelatine and fats.

Reactions typically develop between two and 10 hours after consumption, with symptoms ranging from abdominal cramping and vomiting, to severe allergic reactions and anaphylaxis.

If found that his red meat allergy was a factor in his death, Allergy and Anaphylaxis Australia believes his death could be the first of its kind in the country.

Webb told the ABC that from the age of two, her son was repeatedly bitten by ticks while camping in bushland on the NSW Central Coast.

“When I first suspected mammalian meat allergy, I did look into it, but there wasn’t much information back then,” Webb said.

“I sort of saw it as a food intolerance, not an allergy that can kill you from anaphylaxis.”

Webb believes that if Jeremy’s cause of death was incorrectly determined, there could be more fatal cases of the condition.

“I think Jeremy would be so proud of this inquest about his death,” she said.

“If it saves one more life, then that’s a win, a huge win.”

So far, the inquest has examined the adequacy of Webb’s medical treatment before his death, the role anaphylaxis played in his death, and whether his death could have been prevented by earlier detection.

NSW Deputy State Coroner Carmel Forbes is expected to hand down her findings by the end of the year.

Allergy expert Associate Professor Sheryl van Nunen told the inquest there had been a 40 per cent year-on-year increase in mammalian meat allergy diagnoses in Australia since 2020, with the highest rates being in NSW and Queensland.

Professor van Nunen also revealed that people had a 50 percent chance of developing the allergy after being bitten by just two ticks.

Australian organization Tick Induced Allergies Research and Awareness (TIARA) recommends “dressing for the occasion” before going out into the bush by wearing a long-sleeved shirt, tucked into full-length pants with socks pulled over the top.

If you or someone you know is bitten by a tick, do not “pick” it out of their skin with tweezers or tick-removal gadgets which might accidentally squeeze the tick.

Doing so could lead to “tick saliva entering the body and increasing the risk of tick-induced allergies.”

The best removal method is to spray a freezing medication and then allow it to drop off. If that fails, TIARA advises visiting your local GP or emergency department.