Donate to Help Fund Life Saving Allergy Treatment in USA

Hi! Welcome to our page.

We’re Katie and Neil, parents of Yann (8), who lives with 15 life threatening food allergies.

WHAT ARE SEVERE ALLERGIES?

Being severely allergic means having to avoid coming into contact with trace amounts of food allergens, being on alert constantly, having limited social opportunities & carrying emergency adrenaline & asthma meds everywhere at all times.

Most things that we do in life revolve around food which requires a lot of thought and pre-planning for people with severe food allergies - from leaving the house, to going to school, to attending parties, playdates and after school clubs - it all needs extra planning and vigilience. Children with severe allergies require around the clock supervision & have to take their own "safe" food & drink everywhere they go.

In the UK there is currently no viable treatment available for "complex" severe allergies, meaning that avoidance is the only alternative - this gets more difficult as children get older and more independent.

Accidental exposure resulting in anaphylaxis can be life threatening. Emergency adrenaline when administered immediately can buy time to get to A&E. However, Epipens do not always work and many people have died from anaphylaxis despite administering multiple shots of adrenaline.

YANN'S SITUATION

Yann is severely allergic to the following foods which are present pretty much everywhere in the UK food environment:

Milk (inc butter, cheese, yoghurt, cream, ice-cream etc)

Egg

Peanut

Treenuts (Cashew, Almond, Walnut, Brazil, Macadamia, Pisatchio, Hazelnut)

Sesame

Coconut

Wheat (bread, pasta, pastries, cakes, biscuits etc)

Kiwi

Pulses (beans, peas, soya)

Nutmeg

Lupin (contained in baked products)

Oat

Tuna

Seeds

Seafood (Crab, Prawn, Shrimp, Oyster etc)

Trying to avoid the tiniest trace amount of these foods and therefore anaphylaxis, is incredibly difficult (check the ingredients of any food that you buy & see how many of them ‘contain’ or ‘may contain’ these allergens) especially in social situations. This means that high school and many job opportunities as well as sleepovers and trips to a restaurant / eating takeaway are completely out of the question for him.

As children with severe allergies get older and more independent, the risks increase. The highest number of fatalities occur between the ages of 15-25.

WHY TREATMENT IN AMERICA?

Yann’s condition is classed a severe and complex. Having explored & now exhausted all potential treatment options within the UK & Europe, we have secured a place for Yann to have tailor made treatment at the Food Allergy Institute (FAI) in California.

The FAI delivers a Tolerance Induction Programme, completely individualised to the child and their particular immune system, which has successfully put over 8,000 children with severe and complex food allergies into complete remission, free from all food restrictions. They call it achieving Food Freedom.

Those who have undergone the treatment go from living in fear every single day and missing out on many social activities & opportunities, to living life in the full, without restriction or danger.

This treatment will completely change Yann’s life for the better. However it is not cheap and it will not be easy.

WHAT DOES THE TREATMENT INVOLVE?

We are committed to travelling to and from California from the UK for clinical review, food challenges and new foods every 12 weeks for at least 3-4 years.

In between visits we ‘dose' him daily with a variety of different micro proteins. Over time these are adjusted, added to and increased as his body slowly adapts to tolerating new foods.

HOW MUCH DOES IT COST?

The anticipated cost of treatment is £20,000 per year plus travel, accommodation, bespoke food and medication (circa £30,000 p.a.)

All funds raised will contribute towards the treatment itself.

We are incredibly grateful for all donations and fundraising activities which can support Yann's life saving and life changing journey.

Our long term aim is to create a fund which can support other children like Yann accessing this life changing treatment. More on that to follow as it evolves!

Thank you for your support.

Follow us on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/groups/2035925226720474/)

and Instagram @multiallergyfamily for updates.