It all started at the grocery store.

Christen’s story is one that every parent of a child with severe food allergies can relate to. One day everything was fine. The next day, Christen entered the grocery store with her young daughter, Alanna. The store was giving out free samples. Alanna had no known allergies. Christen allowed her daughter to have a sample.

Your donation to Kids With Food Allergies (KFA) truly makes a difference in the lives of families like Christen’s. Let me explain how.

As Christen explains,

From that day on, my life, her life—the life we had previously known—had been changed forever in a matter of minutes.

Alanna vomited after eating the free sample. Then her tongue “felt funny.”As Alanna’s symptoms worsened to include a full body rash, Christen, a nurse practitioner, knew these were symptoms of a severe allergic reaction. She told Alanna that they should go to the Emergency Room.

Christen kneeled down to pick up Alanna and she said to her,

Mom, my voice is leaving.

Christen knew that was little Alanna’s way of telling her that her throat was closing and she was losing her ability to breathe. Christen was paralyzed with fear as they rushed to get Alanna emergency treatment.

Thankfully, after several hours at the hospital, Alanna was released in stable condition. Before discharge, the doctor began a conversation with Christen and her husband that undoubtedly changed their lives. He explained that Alanna had reacted to the tree nuts often found in pesto sauce. She would always need to carry an epinephrine auto-injector in case another reaction occurred. He said more, but Christen was so overwhelmed that she hardly heard it.

Christen had so many questions and no answers. How do you explain severe food allergies to a six year old? How would Alanna be able to attend school with such a severe food allergy?

It’s because of donors like you that we’re able to teach families how to adjust to a new diagnosis of food allergy – and how to send their children off to school safely. This education and support would not be possible without your generous help.

Your donations will put valuable education and support resources into the hands of more families like Christen’s. With education and support, families can learn ways to keep their children safe and allow them to thrive. Your gift may save lives!

According to Christen, soon after Alanna’s episode, KFA became an invaluable resource. She found immediate help through the blogs and articles on the KFA website.

To hear other stories and see what other moms had experienced was just so helpful. Plus, KFA has been a great support, and enables me to stay abreast of new things happening in the food allergy world, including safety issues.

Your support keeps kids like Alanna safe and healthy.

With your gift, families like Christen’s will be prepared to manage food allergies day-to-day. They can learn how to send their children off to school safely, and learn how to handle an emergency, should one occur.

Any gift you give will save lives. Our families thank you in advance for your thoughtfulness and generosity.

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Sincerely,

Lynda Mitchell
Founder,
Kids With Food Allergies
a division of the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America