Anaphylaxis Case history

The 8th of November 1994 is for ever etched in our minds. It was the end of another busy day as we sat around with our three children, eating what was left of the Halloween nuts, and catching up with each other's news. Our eldest daughter, Aisling, was then aged five. She started to cough, and complained of a sore throat whilst eating. I looked in her mouth and, finding nothing amiss, clapped her reassuringly on the back as doctors sometimes do. She then went upstairs to brush her teeth in preparation for bed, still complaining of pain. Her protests on the stairs were put down to another attack of the 'Shirley Temples'! By the time she reached the bathroom, her face was peppered with enormous hives, and her tongue was swollen with angry lumps. I threw a blanket around her, lifted her into my arms and rushed downstairs to the car. I was headed for hospital. On the way, she started to wheeze, and then slumped to one side in the back seat. I shouted at her: 'Aisling! Stay with me now, baby, stay with me!' But she could hardly speak. She was weak, very weak. I drove like a lunatic, one eye on Aisling, the other on the road; hazard lights, headlights and horn flashing and sounding as I weaved my way dangerously in and out of traffic. I thought I would lose her. But I knew that if I could just get her there alive she would have a chance. Adrenaline, that's what she needed now, and nothing else would do. I ran into the emergency department, trembling; by now her eyes were swollen like balloons, her breathing was noisy and distressed, and hives were spreading to the rest of her body. I handed her over to the medical staff and prayed. Aisling was in the throes of anaphylaxis.

I would estimate that her symptoms began within three or four minutes of eating nuts, and that another five minutes had: elapsed before we reached hospital. Her symptoms were dramatic, and they developed at a terrifying pace. This was, without doubt, a potentially life-threatening situation. To our great joy, Aisling pulled through. But, sadly, others like her have been less fortunate. Each year, some six to eight people die from this sort of allergy in the British Isles.

The blood tests came back a few weeks later. They confirmed a definite allergy to Brazil nut. The other nuts, including peanut, did not show up in the blood. However, the skin test to peanut was most certainly positive. Aisling, for her part, was unable to sleep for about a month. She had got an awful fright. There is no doubt, however, that she now fully understands her situation. Thank you, Lord Jesus, that I didn't die when I ate the nuts,' she prays. Brian was just a babe in arms at the time, and remained oblivious throughout; but Fiona, who was only three years old, became wonderfully protective of her older sibling. She wouldn't let her eat anything — and I mean anything — before I asking us if there were nuts in it! Thankfully, Aisling is a very I sensible young lady, and never eats a new food without first asking us whether it is safe to do so. She also carries an adrenaline syringe at all times: in her schoolbag, in the car and in the home. She is brought to friends' parties with a present in one hand and a syringe in the other. The hosts at each and every event are discreetly taken to one side for a brief but very clear instruction: no nuts! And if a 'hidden' nut is eaten accidentally: use the adrenaline!



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