Last week we met
Gretchen and heard in her own words how living with a peanut allergy affects her day to day life. Recently I ran across a news story about an 11 year old boy named Aaron. He was the "Good Ambassador" for Denver's "Walk for Food Allergy" that took place yesterday.
Although Aaron lives with a severe dairy allergy, the effect of living with any life-threatening food allergy are virtually the same on a child, no matter what the offending food is. Here is the essay that won him the "Good Ambassador" role for the Walk.
Hi, my name is Aaron Sanders. I am going to tell you about my food allergy and how it affects me.
First, I have a severe dairy allergy. I was allergic to eggs when I was younger. But I outgrew my egg allergy and eat lots of eggs now.
I have had my dairy allergy since I was born. I have reactions when I eat anything with dairy in it. I can even react when I inhale things like powdered milk or Parmesan cheese. When I was little my reactions would make me stuffy and sneeze all the time, cough and throw up. That's when my Mom & Dad took me to a special doctor. He did some tests and told us I was allergic to milk. Now I carry two different kinds of medicine in a bag with me wherever I go.
My Mom & Dad learned about all the things that can have milk in them and didn't let me have any of it. I didn't have a reaction for a very long time. When I was 5 years old I did a food challenge where I ate just a little bit of cheese. It didn't make me stuffy or sneeze. We were so happy because we thought I had outgrown my dairy allergy too. But by the time we got home I didn't feel so good. I got red from hives all over my body and wanted to throw up. I had anaphylaxis so the ambulance took me to the hospital.
It was really scary to go to Kindergarten right after my bad reaction. I didn't have fun in school when the teacher and other kids had food that wasn't safe for me. The teacher would sit me out if I couldn't participate in the activities with the other kids. It makes me sad when I can't have fun when other kids are doing something fun. When I was in school it did not go well and I didn't want to go back after I graduated from Kindergarten.
I would be a good Ambassador because I know a lot about food allergies. I can help people learn about food allergies by talking about it like Trace does. I would tell kids with food allergies to let their friends know how they can help keep them safe. I would tell adults that people with food allergies have to avoid some foods but otherwise we are just like anybody else. Everybody needs to know about food allergies so we all can be safe. Especially us kids because we depend on adults to help us.
(Here is the entire article I took this essay from)
Although Aaron lives with a severe dairy allergy, the effect of living with any life-threatening food allergy are virtually the same on a child, no matter what the offending food is. Here is the essay that won him the "Good Ambassador" role for the Walk.
Hi, my name is Aaron Sanders. I am going to tell you about my food allergy and how it affects me.
First, I have a severe dairy allergy. I was allergic to eggs when I was younger. But I outgrew my egg allergy and eat lots of eggs now.
I have had my dairy allergy since I was born. I have reactions when I eat anything with dairy in it. I can even react when I inhale things like powdered milk or Parmesan cheese. When I was little my reactions would make me stuffy and sneeze all the time, cough and throw up. That's when my Mom & Dad took me to a special doctor. He did some tests and told us I was allergic to milk. Now I carry two different kinds of medicine in a bag with me wherever I go.
My Mom & Dad learned about all the things that can have milk in them and didn't let me have any of it. I didn't have a reaction for a very long time. When I was 5 years old I did a food challenge where I ate just a little bit of cheese. It didn't make me stuffy or sneeze. We were so happy because we thought I had outgrown my dairy allergy too. But by the time we got home I didn't feel so good. I got red from hives all over my body and wanted to throw up. I had anaphylaxis so the ambulance took me to the hospital.
It was really scary to go to Kindergarten right after my bad reaction. I didn't have fun in school when the teacher and other kids had food that wasn't safe for me. The teacher would sit me out if I couldn't participate in the activities with the other kids. It makes me sad when I can't have fun when other kids are doing something fun. When I was in school it did not go well and I didn't want to go back after I graduated from Kindergarten.
I would be a good Ambassador because I know a lot about food allergies. I can help people learn about food allergies by talking about it like Trace does. I would tell kids with food allergies to let their friends know how they can help keep them safe. I would tell adults that people with food allergies have to avoid some foods but otherwise we are just like anybody else. Everybody needs to know about food allergies so we all can be safe. Especially us kids because we depend on adults to help us.
(Here is the entire article I took this essay from)