Seaford mum hopes to raise awareness about anaphylaxis

Vicki Ireland, aged 34 from Seaford, feels that the only way she can protect her daughter in the outside world is for people to understand how dangerous the allergies can be.

Sophie, now aged six, was just 18 months old when she was diagnosed with a severe airborne peanut allergy.

Her dad, Will, had been blowing raspberries on his daughter's stomach when she suddenly began swelling up. He had eaten peanuts earlier that day.

Vicki phoned 111 and they dispatched an ambulance instantly, urging the parents to keep her conscious and be aware she may go into anaphylactic shock.

She said: "I'm thinking I don't even know what that is. But I'm so grateful that that is how we found out because if she had eaten peanut butter or something I don't think she would be here today,

"My husband still feels incredibly guilty for being the cause of how we found out but I always say it's the best thing that could have happened because we might not have known until it was too late otherwise."

Only about 20 to 25 per cent of children with peanut allergies outgrow them, so the condition is likely something Sophie will have to deal with for the rest of her life.

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Sophie has skin-prick testing every year, the hives that appear are a certain size that specialists have told Vicki and Will to treat her allergy as airborne.

This means that if someone was in the room with her and opened a bag of nuts, it may cause her throat to close.

"Thankfully we've never found out for sure and Sophie hasn't actually gone into anaphylactic shock. It's not exactly something we could ever risk to find out."

Despite this, there have been a number of 'near-misses' that have cause the family to raise awareness for children with Sophie's allergy.

Vicki took to Facebook after one of these close calls to ask parents to be extra careful about what they pack for their children's lunches.

"Sophie had been at a summer club and it was lunch time, she looked over at the child next to her and realised they were eating a peanut butter sandwich.

"Luckily Sophie noticed and moved away from the child. She found one of the supervisors and told them that there was a peanut butter sandwich here and she was removed from the room immediately."

Vicki believes that incidents like this occur because people are not educated enough with the facts or about how dangerous it can be.

"There is such a lack of awareness. I didn't know before Sophie got diagnosed, I used to work in hospitality so I knew about allergies and stuff but I didn't know the severity of some," she said.

Vicki said that her nursery had always been very good at informing parents about Sophie and now her school is too, as well as friends and family.

Her school regularly sends out reminders and will remove Sophie from a room if there may be a nut product there.

However, as Sophie gets older and comes into contact with more and more people Vicki fears she will not be able to protect her daughter.

"It's so scary. My husband and I can keep her as safe as possible, we can ask everyone around us to keep her safe but you can never guarantee it in the outside world. There's always a risk wherever you go," said Vicki.

Due to Sophie being diagnosed at such an early age, she is capable of assessing situations and knowing when there may be a risk.

"She has just been diagnosed with coeliac disease, so can now not have gluten or wheat, and she's taken to that really well because she's used to having to be super careful.

"It's a lot for us to have to worry about all the time but that's what I wanted to gain from my post. Prevention is the key to keeping people with these allergies safe and I want to encourage people to think a bit more about it."

Vicki said that something that has always been a particularly stressful time for the family is when they are going on a plane.

Sophie has been on holiday twice and both times have had to present the cabin crew with a plan from the hospital for them to follow.

"Both times they've been amazing and really helped alleviate the stress. But, I'm never able to relax because I feel like I'm constantly scanning the plane for someone who might be eating M&M's or a bag of peanuts.

"The last time we flew a couple came onto the plane later than everyone else, after the announcement had been made and I had to ask them to say it again so that these people heard.

"It's things like that that I just can't ever not worry about. I'm always on high alert," Vicki said.

Vicki said she remembers when Sophie was younger when she took her to a soft play area and had to remove her when she saw a child running around with a chocolate and nut bar.

"I really hate for her to have to miss out on anything, so we really do try to avoid it if possible but you know it's safety first. She does get upset by it but she's pretty used to it now.

"My friends are all really great in that regard, they'll always make sure the cake at birthday parties is nut-free. Little things like that make such a difference."

Vicki and Will always make sure they are carrying two EpiPens with them wherever they go, they call them her little 'life savers'.

Staff at her school and her dance class are all trained how to use one, that is something Vicki has had to ensure on behalf of her daughter.

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Isabelle, Sophie's older sister has had to be taught how to administer the device, as well as other family members who are around Sophie regularly.

On Vicki's Facebook post she included helpful diagrams of how to use one, encouraging others to be prepared if they are in a situation where they may need to use it.

"If we have to put our faith in other people, we'd ideally want everyone to be as prepared as possible to save someone. I've had a great response from people who said they didn't know how severe it could be, and even if that's only a few people who will take more care, that's better than nothing," she said.