A former lorry driver died after he was stung by a wasp and went into anaphylactic shock – despite heroic attempts from a friend to save his life.

Keith Blamey, 69, who had a wasp venom allergy, collapsed at his home in Trees Road, Hughenden Valley, on July 20 this year after being stung by the insect at around 4.30pm.

Mr Blamey, a retired HGV driver, was upstairs at home when he shouted down to his wife, Eileen, that he had been stung.

Mrs Blamey told an inquest into her husband’s death at Buckinghamshire Coroner’s Court on Tuesday morning that the EpiPen they had was one the couple had not used before – so Mrs Blamey said she “quickly” read the instructions before administering a shot of adrenaline.

She phoned a friend, Philip Morgan, to come round to their house, where the couple were looking after their two-year-old granddaughter, as it became clear that Mr Blamey would need to go to hospital.

As Mr Blamey reached for his antihistamine tablets, he fell to the floor, his wife recalled, and she dialled 999 at 4.31pm.

Mr Morgan started CPR on his friend, until paramedics arrived eight minutes later and after crews tried desperately to revive Mr Blamey with around six adrenaline shots, he was rushed to Wycombe Hospital just before 5.30pm.

A doctor broke the devastating news to his wife that Mr Blamey had passed away around 10 minutes later.

Crispin Butler, senior coroner for Bucks, praised Mr Morgan for his CPR efforts, which he said were “sadly in vain”.

A post-mortem examination carried out by Dr Steven Corrigan found that Mr Blamey had suffered a cardiac arrest after he was stung. His cause of death was recorded as anaphylactic shock due to a wasp sting and hypertension.

Dr Anthony Gallagher, from Hughenden Valley Surgery, said there may have been an “element of confusion” regarding the use of a different EpiPen and said he had written to three different EpiPen manufacturers to discuss the situation.

However, he said the delay in administering the shot was “minimal”.

Recording a conclusion of accidental death, Mr Butler said: “There is some mention of other medical conditions Mr Blamey had, but it is clear that anaphylactic shock caused by a wasp sting was the cause of death.

“Notwithstanding CPR attempts and the use of an EpiPen, sadly Keith died in hospital. The use of the EpiPen was entirely appropriate but sadly it just wasn’t enough to save him.”