She was only 12 years old. She had her whole life ahead of her.
But now she’s been cruelly taken away by a culture that still doesn’t take nut allergies seriously.
Her family is broken into pieces that can never be fit back the same way again. All because education and legislation on nut allergies are appallingly bad (read: practically nonexistent).
In this case, it was a drink she enjoyed regularly that had somehow been contaminated by nuts. She knew immediately that something was wrong. But by then, it was too late.
And her story, like so many others, will probably never make front-page news. It will probably be ignored once again by those who could make change but choose not to.
And so the cycle continues, and people with severe nut allergies continue to live in fear that someone else’s incompetence will be the end.
To honour her memory, I’m writing this piece to highlight the real threats of nut allergies and to help fuel much-needed social change on the matter.
Here’s the thing…
Some people seem to be under the impression that if they are eating nuts in public, they can’t harm people with a nut allergy. After all, it’s not like they are shoving it down their throats, right?