Higham family campaign for lifesaving allergy medical equipment to be in every school after son’s wheat allergy reaction

The parents of a youngster with severe allergies are campaigning to have EpiPens in every school after he went into anaphylaxis and stopped breathing at nursery.

Regan Smith, from Higham, was diagnosed with multiple food allergies including wheat, avocado, legumes, and dairy when he was just six months old.

Due to their severity, the now four-year-old carries two EpiPens with him at all times and is at a high risk of anaphylaxis - a severe, life-threatening allergic reaction which requires medical attention.

When he was just two, Regan was accidentally given wholemeal bread by staff at his then-nursery in Essex and went into anaphylactic shock.

His mum, Ashleigh Smith, rushed to the pre-school and despite being told the team was EpiPen trained, they had not realised the severity of his reaction and so had not given him his medication or called an ambulance.

The 38-year-old told KentOnline: “Everything that could have gone wrong went wrong that day. We have lived the worst experience.

“I got the phone call and by the time I got there, he could not breathe. He needed his EpiPen and an ambulance needed to be called.

“Everyone had his best interest at heart but did not know what was happening. Everyone thinks that a person will go red and have swelling but that is not always the case.”

Regan was given his EpiPen and was rushed to the hospital by paramedics where he was then monitored for six hours. Thankfully, he was OK.

Since the accident, his parents Ashleigh and Ben Smith, who now live in Higham, have been working to raise awareness of the severity of allergies and the importance of having adrenaline auto-injectors (AAI), such as EpiPens, available in schools.

Ben, 41, said: “We want to try and raise awareness as more and more of the worst keeps happening.

“When the worst happens that is when people start to take notice. More children should not have to die or go through what we did to get proper procedures in place.

“It is intimidating to administer an EpiPen but there should not be any panic. Administering an EpiPen will not do as much harm as not doing so.

“It is crucial to get it into the system quickly. It needs to get to a point where it is a default reaction.”

Mum-of-two Ashleigh added: “There is not enough training on how to notice and manage an allergic reaction.

“There’s no one size fits all for allergies. Even if you are EpiPen trained it might not be enough if you do not know how to spot the reaction in the first place.

“People just do not know what to do which is a shame as you could save a life.”

The pair, who also have a 10-month-old daughter, Hollie, believe adrenaline should be available in public places and education settings due to the unpredictable nature of allergies.

According to the allergy community interest company, Benedict Blythe Foundation, 20% of the most serious allergic reactions to food happen when a child is at school, with 25% of first-time anaphylaxis happening at school.

The Smith family has been fundraising to install a Kitt Medical Anaphylaxis Kitt at Shorne Church of England Primary School which Regan attends.

At the time of writing, it has reached more than £3,000. You can view the JustGiving page here.

A Kitt Medical Anaphylaxis Kitt, designed by Zak Marks and James Cohen, includes four adrenaline pens and has a subscription to ensure they are kept up-to-date and stored correctly.

Zak came up with the idea while studying at university and decided to make something to store, monitor and provide training for emergency anaphylaxis medication in public places.

He said: “I have lived with severe allergies to nuts for my entire life, and have always found there to be a lack of awareness, poor availability of adrenaline pens and unavailability of training.

“That is why we created our Anaphylaxis Kitts – they are just like a defibrillator, but for allergies, and we now support 500 UK schools and qualifying businesses with emergency adrenaline pens, online CPD-accredited training, and incident reporting, all in one convenient annual subscription.

“It is incredible to see the fundraising efforts that are going into getting our Kitts out there – it is clear how passionate people are to finally get proactive about allergy care.”

Ashleigh added: “I have spoken to so many people and they are all so shocked schools do not have adrenaline available if needed.

“However, we understand that schools do not have the funding or are not aware of the schemes. We would love all schools to have access.

“We want to make sure adrenaline is available to anyone who needs it. I think it should be part of the first aid kit.

“It is so frustrating as it comes down to what the government wants to fund but it is just not good enough.”

On October 1, 2017, the law changed to allow schools and educational settings to purchase a supply of AAIs, such as EpiPens without a prescription.

However, it is not mandatory or funded by the government or local authorities.