by The former boss of Pret A Manger burst into tears when he was forgiven by the father of the teenage girl who died after eating one of their baguettes, it has been revealed.
Mr Nadim Ednan-Laperouse said he approached former sandwich company boss Clive Schlee after “having a vision in church”.
“I put one hand on his heart, the other on his shoulder and said, ‘Clive, I forgive you for my child’s death to set you free so you can be the best father to your two daughters.'”
Mr Ednan-Laperouse said Mr Schlee’s “eyes came up and he started to cry”.
The reconciliation came after Mr Ednan-Laperouse spent two years “boiling with revenge” at Mr Schlee’s house – and contemplated suicide.
Natasha Ednan-Laperouse died in 2016 at the age of 15 after suffering an allergic reaction to a Pret A Manger baguette bought at Heathrow Airport. She collapsed on a flight to Nice and died shortly after arrival.
At the coroner’s inquest, her father blamed Pret for failing to list ingredients on the package, including sesame, to which Natasha was allergic.
The coroner ruled that the labeling was “insufficient”.
Mr Schlee said in 2019 that listening to details of Natasha’s final moments was “the worst period of my life”.
The act of forgiveness represented a change of heart. When Mr Schlee apologized in a letter of condolence to the family two years after Natasha’s death, they said it was “too little too late”.
Mr Ednan-Laperouse, 57, has now revealed how he later forgave Mr Schlee in an emotional meeting.
“For two years I was raging with rage, boiling over with vengeance uncontrollably,” he told Sir Craig Oliver in his podcast Desperate for wisdom.
“I blamed the company and the boss. One day I was in church and I had a vision that I would forgive the man I blamed for the death of my child.”
It was four days after his “church vision” that he met Mr. Schlee and said he no longer held him personally responsible for his daughter’s death.
He told the businessman that he wanted to make sure “the horror of what happened” happens again.
Mr Ednan-Laperouse explained why he extended the hand of friendship, saying: “None of us is out to harm others in this way. It was a mix of poor judgment and taking your eyes off the ball. He deserves to be forgiven for even the most horrific thing.”
Mr Ednan-Laperouse said he had “felt suicidal for a while” after Natasha died. “I relived flashbacks – but I had treatment for them. Luckily I can talk about it now. If I hadn’t gotten help, I wouldn’t be here today.”
Mr. Schlee, 63, stepped down as CEO of Pret A Manger in 2019.
