Dangerous attitudes: "But my child doesn't have allergies".

It was a sunny afternoon, July 2020, when I faced the worst day of my life. My daughter, then three-years-old, asked me for a snack. I gave her a bowl of roasted cashew nuts and being a toddler, she got distracted and dropped the bowl onto the floor. Arham, my four-year-old son, tried to help clear up the mess by picking up the nuts and putting them back into the bowl while I grabbed a dustpan and brush from the kitchen. While out of he room I heard my daughter call “Mama, something happened to Arham!”

Arham’s face was swollen, and he was gasping for air.

He has asthma, so I thought he was having an asthma attack. I was confused why his face had swollen as I bundled both my children into the car, rushing him to the A&E.

They told me Arham was ‘experiencing anaphylaxis’ and it was extremely serious.

The details from that day have stuck in my mind so vividly. Doctors and nurses running in and out of his room, attaching machines and an oxygen mask to my son. It was the scariest day of my life.

Aftercare

Thankfully, Arham came through, and we were allowed to bring him home the next day.

The following weeks were very hectic. Arham had to undergo allergy skin prick tests and we were lucky they could give him an appointment so quickly. They found he was allergic to all tree nuts and peanuts.

Doctors asked me if he had ever had an allergic reaction before? Searching my memory, I remembered two incidents where Arham’s face had become swollen. I had taken him to hospital and they told me they thought it was from insect bites.

The Allergist we saw was amazing, she gave us lots of information and support. There were leaflets with advice on eating out and staying safe in public places and she also advised that we could make an appointment with her again if we had any new concerns.

The next few weeks were sometimes overwhelming. First, my husband and I had to educate ourselves about food allergies. We made the house a ‘Nut Free Zone’, and as a family we never consume nuts or peanuts.

Nursery

One month after Arham’s anaphylactic reaction, his nursery school called me and said that a child had brought a chocolate bar into nursery and it may have contained nuts because Arham had come into contact with it and had an allergic reaction. They had given him his antihistamine but needed me to collect him.

Before I could process anything clearly, I had a panic attack, with flashbacks seeing my son, lifeless in hospital. The fear and anxiety I felt until I could get to him was huge. I felt like I had lost control of my body.

Sufyan (Arham’s father) and I rushed to Arham’s nursery and we found him covered in hives and his eyes very swollen. Thankfully it wasn’t an anaphylactic reaction this time, he was able to breathe.

I was nervous about Arham returning to nursery, but the staff were supportive and proactive. They emailed all parents to remind them that the nursery was ‘nut-free’ and asked that they make sure that their children also washed their hands before attending.

The nursery had a meeting with the parents of the child who had brought in the chocolate bar, explaining what had happened to our son and how severe food allergies can be. I was shocked to hear that the father of the child was uncooperative. He completely refused to understand the seriousness of what had happened and said of his son bringing a chocolate bar into school,

It was so upsetting. It made me realise how people around us may not be well informed about allergies and their dangers.

Looking back…

…at these incidents has made us realise how severe Arham’s allergies are. He can experience an allergic reaction even from airborne particles of nuts. So now we read every single label and we only eat home-cooked meals because we can’t trust foods outside the home. Arham has grown to understand his allergies, and if someone offers him something to eat, he always asks them to read the ingredients label to check if it contains nuts or peanuts. Thankfully Arham hasn’t had an allergic reaction since May 2021.

I have learnt breathing exercises to calm myself if I have a panic attack. I need to know I can drive our car in an allergy emergency.

Although we were lucky to receive medical and family support, I feel there is a need for the public to become more educated on what food allergies are and how they can help make the world safer for allergic people. So many still don’t understand how serious food allergies are. Their awareness could help save lives.