Adults Living with Anaphylaxis Go to School Too
How a young student saved my life
I am an Executive Director of a Child Care that is located in a school. It is an exciting career, but having anaphylaxis makes it a challenge. From the well-meaning parents who supply donuts for those special occasions, to creative staff members who fill their sand tables with split peas in order to provide an alternative sensory experience for the children, I'm never sure what I will be exposed to next!
My first reaction for which I had to be hospitalized is one that I will never forget. It was lunchtime and the school age children were coming down from their classes to join the Child Care for a special meal of spring rolls, fried rice and sweet and sour chicken balls. I had a lot of work to do that day and had taken my lunch earlier with the youngest children. Settling down in my office to work, I began to break out in hives, my voice deepened and I started to cough.
Afraid to be alone in my office, I went into the busy school age classroom. The staff, although they had practiced giving an epinephrine auto-injector during their annual first aid courses, were nervous. David, an older child in that room, had lived most of his life with severe allergies, so they called on him to assist.
David went into my office, got my epinephrine auto-injector and talked the staff though the procedure, all the while keeping a calm head. David not only helped save me that lunch but he followed up with his fellow classmates about the signs and symptoms of a reaction and the importance of checking foods that come into the school.
David and I have a kinship that others may never understand but I will always watch out for him, as he did for me that day and every other day from then on!
Last date modified on Friday, April 7, 2006
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