Healthy Food Can Also Kill
The problem with peanuts
When my now 22 year old ‘child’, A, was a mere 12 months old, they nearly died — for the first time.
I realise that sounds odd, but when you are dealing with severely life-threatening allergies, that kind of statement just seems, normal. Or at least it became our normal.
But back to that first time briefly. My infant put a hand into a very small amount of peanut butter, a remnant of something our friends toddler had been eating (in the fashion of toddlers, messily). From A’s tiny hand, that peanut butter — a nice smooth, easily spreadable variety — was rubbed on their face and through their hair…. and, within seconds, my baby began to swell before my eyes. By the time 5 minutes had elapsed, A’s face was so puffed up, their eyes were swollen shut like a miniature prize fighter, and I was frantically attempting to wash away as much as the offending nut butter as I possibly could while my child screamed and I was waiting to be connected to the local emergency room.
I was terrified. It was traumatic, for both of us.
So yes, that was the first time. On getting through to the ER and being quickly transferred to a duty nurse, my next hastily dialled call was to the ambulance service.
