Brave little boy with hundreds of allergies
SENDING your child to school for the first time is scary for any parent, but when he could die from a bee sting, that first day at school is terrifying.
Candice Manteuffel’s son Ethan is four and began school at Peace Lutheran Primary School in Gatton last week.
Ethan lives with rare medical conditions that cause anaphylaxis, first suffering a reaction when he was nine-months-old. Insects, chemicals, multiple foods and even heat or cold water (for example, jumping straight into a pool) can trigger a severe, potentially life-threatening allergic reaction in minutes.
“It was quite terrifying for us, but he was quite excited to start,” Ms Manteuffel said.
It was not just a matter of making sure peanuts were off the menu at the school, as it was for children who had just one anaphylaxis trigger.
Ethan’s triggers number in the hundreds. He can’t consume any chemicals, such as preservatives in food, and is sensitive to paint. It took a year’s planning and numerous meetings with the school to prepare for Ethan’s first day.
“They’ve been wonderful,” Ms Manteuffel said. “The principal actually asked me to
‘‘ IT WAS QUITE TERRIFYING FOR US, BUT HE WAS QUITE EXCITED TO START (SCHOOL).
CANDICE MANTEUFFEL
come in and talk to the whole staff.”
Ms Manteuffel, who works at the school, explained to staff what the reactions looked like so they could recognise the signs before a full-blown reaction took hold.
“They were not fearful but they were certainly very apprehensive,” she said. “You can’t do anything about insects - you can have the best policies in the world but obviously you can’t avoid everything.”
The school has agreed to educate children to not share food and to look out for each other and get help if anyone looks unwell.
Someone essentially needs to be watching Ethan all the time. He wears his own hat so he stands out in the playground, and when he goes in the pool there’s a process for easing him in.
“It’s quite full-on, it’s about keeping him inside as much as possible and when he has been outside, cooling him down,” she said.