Friday, February 4, 2011

Peanut Allergy: Sabrina's Mom (via allergymoms.com)

Sabrina.

When I used to hear that name (BPAD - before peanut allergy diagnosis) I always thought of the teenage witch.

Now I think of Sabrina, a 13 year old girl who suffered a fatal anaphylactic episode at school after eating french fries contaminated with microscopic dairy particles.

Her mother, Sara Shannon, turned this horrendous loss into her personal mission - to ensure that noone has to go through this again - to protect allergic children in school. Sabrina's Law is her legacy in honor of her daughter - her only child - who would have been 21 this year.

Gina Clowes of allergymoms.com posted an interview with Sara on her website this month.  They are friends and the ease in which they chat about this is really uplifting and wonderful to read.  There are so many great points made in the article.  This in particular gave me the chills:
Gina: You got the call that every allergy mother dreads.
Sara: Yes, the one every allergy mother dreads. I couldn’t believe it. The word “collapsed,” that’s the worst word for an allergy mom to hear. Sabrina had always survived her reactions. She had never had a reaction where she collapsed.
Gina: This is such an important point for anyone on the call. When I hear, “mild peanut allergy,” for example, and I know you and I both feel the same way and we cringe at this. Because reactions are unpredictable. Most everyone who has had a fatal reaction has had a milder reactions previously.

Please go read it.  And bring a box of tissues. 

What an amazing woman.

Thank you Gina!

1 comment:

Alison St. Sure said...

I have read about this woman before... it is so sad. And scary for us all.