A FAMILY'S Christmas Day almost ended in tragedy when a dad suffered a life threatening allergic reaction to a can of deodorant. Darren Palmer, 36, went into anaphylactic shock after spraying himself with a new Lynx Fever aerosol.

Wife, Joanne, found him collapsed unconscious on the floor of the bathroom at 11.30am. He had passed out in the bath and hit his head while trying to wash it off. Their nine-year-old son, Harry, phoned grandparents Brian and Marilyn Haynes, while she called an ambulance.

Joanne, 34, of Coronation Street, Darfield, described the events as terrifying: "We were getting ready for our family lunch and he sprayed himself with the deodorant and went downstairs. He hadn't got all the way down before he started to itch and complain that it was irritating his skin.

"He got in the bath to wash it off and by this point his face was bright red, he told me he was feeling faint and was struggling to breathe. He started to panic and tried to get out of the bath but slipped and hit his head.

A spokesman for Unilever, which makes Lynx, said: "Lynx is sorry to hear about this person's experience with one of our products. We take all complaints seriously, and our consumer careline team will investigate this matter to help us understand what happened in this instance.

"Product safety is an absolute priority for Unilever, makers of Lynx, and a team of safety specialists conduct in-depth testing on all products prior to launch. The Lynx Fever range has undergone the highest level of dermatological testing and all of the products in the range are proven to not induce skin irritation."