by Kelley Lindberg
Memorial Day is a day of remembrance for loved ones and
strangers alike who have passed on, leaving the world a little richer for
having been here – and yet a little emptier at the same time.
This Memorial Day, unfortunately, we have another child in
the food allergy community to mourn. A 15-year-old boy in Atlanta, Georgia,
died while celebrating a soccer game with his teammates at a buffet restaurant.
(“Teen Dies After Apparent Allergic Reaction to Nuts,” Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
Diallo Robbins-Brinson knew he was allergic to peanuts his
whole life, but had gotten so used to avoiding peanuts that he no longer
carried an EpiPen. At the buffet restaurant, he grabbed a couple of his
favorite cookies: white chocolate with macadamia nuts. Within minutes he’d
passed out and never recovered.
Statistics show that most food-allergy-related deaths are
among teenagers, especially boys, who don’t carry their EpiPens with them. It
seems such a simple thing – avoid the food, but carry an EpiPen for those times
when you accidentally ingest the allergen. Yet teenage boys feel immortal and
bulletproof, they think they are smarter than their parents, and they are
horrified by the thought of having to carry those EpiPens when no one else has
to carry anything. At least girls can carry cute purses without anyone caring.
Boys don’t have that luxury.
My own son is now in those teen years, and I am nervous. So
far, he’s okay with carrying his EpiPens in a string-bag-type backpack. But being
a teenager, he’s as forgetful as a toddler (worse?), and he doesn’t remember to
carry it if I don’t remind him on the way out the door. So I’m showing him this
story about this Atlanta teenager as a reminder of how it’s not just Mom being
overly protective. It is literally a matter of life and death.
In the news story, Diallo’s mother is quoted as saying,
“He thought he was eating something safe… He loved
them. If he had smelled peanut butter, he wouldn't have picked them."
That statement shows one of the misconceptions about
food allergies – that you can always tell just by smell or by sight if a food
contains an allergen. I’ve heard of people who swear they can tell if a food
contains an allergen by touching the food to their tongue; if their tongue
tingles, they avoid the food. That is a highly dangerous way to test a food,
and can give a very false sense of security. Perhaps the portion of the cookie
you touch to your tongue isn’t contaminated, but another is. Perhaps there is not
enough quantity to make your tongue tingle, but enough to make your body react
if you eat it. It’s a game of Russian Roulette. The safer option is to ask for an
ingredients list when possible, and avoid anything suspect if there isn’t an
ingredients list. No cookie, cupcake, or salad ever invented is worth losing your
life, or your child’s life.
This is the third Atlanta child to die from a food allergic
reaction since last August. I hope in Atlanta, food allergy awareness is
becoming more important because of this rash of deaths. And I hope everyone
across the country (and globe) will become more aware, too. Maybe we can all
learn from Diallo’s story and remind our children to be a little more vigilant,
a little more careful, and little more safe.
And here’s my fervent wish that Diallo will be the last food-allergic
child we ever have to mourn on Memorial Day.
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