The Natasha Allergy Research Foundation
Tanya Ednan-Laperouse OBE founded Natasha’s Foundation with her husband Nadim after their daughter Natasha died aged 15 from an allergic reaction to food.
From September, perhaps for the first time, parents of children living with allergies will be able to drop them at the school gates without fear.
The new school year will mark a historic moment for the food allergy community.
New mandatory statutory guidance on allergy safety in schools comes into force in England, ending the current lottery where some schools take allergy seriously while others don’t.
Primary and secondary schools, and school nurseries, will be required to hold spare adrenaline auto-injectors (AAIs) on site in case a child has anaphylaxis, a life-threatening allergic reaction which can cause breathing difficulties and plummeting blood pressure.
All staff will receive obligatory allergy awareness and emergency response training at least once a year. And all schools will need to mount a robust, stand-alone allergy safety policy.
Families living with allergies have been calling for these measures, which could save lives, for years. And with around two children in every classroom now diagnosed with a food allergy (FSA 2016), they come not a moment too soon.
Source: FSA, 2018
This breakthrough comes fortified by the new Benedict’s Law. This makes it a legal requirement for schools to have strong allergy safety measures in place, in accordance with the new guidance.
The law honours Benedict Blythe, a 5-year-old boy who tragically died from anaphylaxis at school after being mistakenly given milk, to which he had a known allergy.
At Natasha’s Foundation we applaud the tireless campaigning of Benedict’s parents, and we are proud to have played a key role in shaping this vital guidance.
Sadly, Benedict’s death is not an isolated case. We know of other families who have lost their children to food allergy, and my heart goes out to each and every one of them.
Our own daughter Natasha died aged 15 from anaphylaxis after eating a baguette which failed to list sesame, to which she was allergic, on the label. Her death was entirely preventable.
Having multiple food allergies meant school was hard for Natasha at times.
Is there something wrong with the page? Do you have a suggestion or would like to see something on this page?