‘My face swelled up ... it felt like my throat was closing’

An 18-year-old female Dubai resident recalled that she first had a nut allergy attack at the age of seven. “I am allergic to walnuts and pecans and even a morsel of these can cause severe choking and swelling,” she told Gulf News.

Recalling the first incident, she said: “No one in my family suffers from such an allergy and I discovered it by accident. My mother had baked a chocolate-walnut cake and the moment I had a small piece, my face and inner cheeks swelled up and it felt like my throat was closing up. I began wheezing.

“My mother gave me an antihistamine and it took me a whole day to recover. Any food allergic reaction is very painful and since then I have always kept an Epi Pen at home although I prefer to take an antihistamine because I am scared of needles. But the schools I went to in the UK and Austria had these Epi Pens, which are a lifesaver and relieve the symptoms instantly. To this date, I never travel without antihistamines and I think it is important that schools keep Epi Pens,” she said.