“I’M ALLERGIC TO MY JOB!”

Emma-louise Pritchard, CL’S executive digital editor, on the hazards of being a reporter out in the field

“I’M ONE OF THOSE PEOPLE WITH A LONG LIST OF ALLERGENS – POLLEN, HAY, HORSES, RABBITS… WHEN I WAS A CHILD, I WANTED TO RIDE BUT I HAD TO WEAR A BEANIE (TO CONTAIN MY DUST-TRAPPING LONG HAIR) AND SUNGLASSES, ALL YEAR ROUND. WHEN MY MOTHER FINALLY INSISTED IT WASN’T THE HOBBY FOR ME, MY STREAMING EYES WEREN’T JUST DOWN TO THE ALLERGY. IRONICALLY, I LANDED A DREAM JOB THAT INVOLVES VISITING FARMS, GARDENS, WOODS AND, YES, EVEN STABLES. LAST SPRING, I WENT TO AN EQUINE THERAPY CENTRE IN GLOUCESTERSHIRE. PONIES PLUS HAY PLUS POLLEN EQUALLED POTENTIAL DISASTER. I HAD TO ‘SOCIAL DISTANCE’ FROM THE ANIMALS AND, AS ALWAYS, I HAD MY ALLERGY FIRST AID KIT TO HAND – TISSUES, HAIR BANDS, SUNGLASSES, ANTIHISTAMINES, INHALER (I ALSO HAVE ASTHMA), LIP BALM (NOT BEING ABLE TO BREATHE THROUGH MY NOSE MAKES MY LIPS DRY) AND HAND SANITISER. THIS KIT IS MY LIFESAVER. I ALWAYS TAKE IT WHEN I’M FILMING IN THE COUNTRYSIDE. IT ALLOWS ME TO DO A JOB I LOVE WITHOUT PESKY ALLERGIES TAKING ME DOWN.” @emmalouisepritchard