When my daughter was almost two she did something lots of people do every morning. She ate some peanut butter on toast. Two hours later, when breakfast was long forgotten and the time for lunch was nearly upon us, her face began to swell – and in moments, she was scarcely able to breathe.
I will never forget the terror of holding her while feeling completely helpless as her body turned against her. The gasping sounds she made as she struggled to take her next breath, rapidly turning pale, and as her body went floppy.
It was the most terrifying moment of my life, and a memory that will stay imprinted with my husband and I forever. If it wasn’t for the fast response from a clued-in GP, she wouldn’t have seen her second birthday.
Jacqueline Pascarl’s Punch article has depicted today’s school lunch rules as extreme. I want to tell the other side of the story. For me, these ‘extreme’ policies are all that gives me the strength to send my child off every day. You see, while it may seem inconvenient for some parents to be aware of what goes in their child’s lunchbox, it is no exaggeration to say that it is literally a matter of life or death for many others – the number of children who suffer from allergies is on the rise.
The main hurdle my husband and I have faced is to let others around us know of the very real seriousness of our daughter’s allergy. We are still told by well-meaning friends that “she’ll grow out of it”, or “they need to be exposed to toughen up”, or my personal favourite – “are you sure it’s life threatening?”. To which we answer – specialists tell us that there is little chance she’ll grow out of it, exposure will not toughen her up but kill her, and yes, the severity of her allergy was plainly illustrated to us that scary morning.
It’s a situation we deal with as best we can – something that we try not to let consume us, but that obviously needs to be kept in mind at all times. When people say, “take some responsibility” – believe me, we do. We carry the prescribed EpiPen everywhere we go, we have been trained in its proper use for emergencies, and the same basic training is provided to our family members and friends. We regularly see an allergist and take precautions whenever we travel, and we are truly thankful to the airlines that give this allergy the attention it deserves. We spend a great deal of time in South East Asia where peanut allergy is rare and public awareness is low – it is a minefield for us, and we have every meal she eats cooked in front of us while there.
Our older daughter doesn’t have the allergy, but throughout her schooling we have been respectful with our lunch box choices. I had no idea how severe peanut allergy could be – many of us won’t unless we experience it personally – but I accepted the school lunchbox policies in terms of making allowances that would help other children. (Given the growth in childhood obesity, I also frankly welcomed any attention that was given to childhood nutrition.) It was only with the diagnosis of my younger daughter’s peanut allergy that my husband and I gained a fuller appreciation for the school lunchbox policies.
If your child is fortunate enough to not have an allergy, consider yourself blessed, but for the many parents like myself, all we ask is that you help reduce a very real risk for our children during school hours. We’re not expecting to get through these years without another attack, the risk is just too prevalent, but we would like to believe that during school hours that she will be in an educated environment and that her health and safety needs are taken into account. I think that any well-meaning person, once apprised of the situation, would allow that it’s not too much to want to look after our children.
There are many manufacturers that make muesli bars and healthy snack foods that do not contain traces of nuts – by supporting these brands it may force others to do the same. Another pressing issue is to make sure that accurate labeling of ingredients takes place across the board. This is not necessarily about self responsibility. Our daughter knows to tell people about her allergy and ask questions about the contents of food. This is about community responsibility. Australia has a very high rate of allergies and asthma, and as a community it is our joint responsibility to make our schools as safe as possible for all our children.
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