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Liz Skydives to raise funds for Allergy UK
Liz says:
"My husabnd Phil and I have two girls; Jessica aged 4 and Charlotte aged 3.
We first discovered Charlie (Charlotte) had a food allergy the month before her 1st birthday (Feb 2004). I had made a boiled egg for her tea and given her 2 mouthfuls. The first she spat out, which most children of this age do, so I thought nothing of it and gave her another spoonful. Within seconds she was scratching her wrists, she started to go red neck up and the swelling and hives then appeared. Our Doctor prescribed antihistamine and referred us to a consultant.
3 months later (May 2004) we discovered that Charlie had a peanut allergy. I stupidly had given her a small bite of my toast with peanut butter on! The second she bit into it her mood changed (it hadn't occurred to me at all), she started scratching like mad and I just knew it was like the egg all over again! Immediately I gave her the antihistamine. Her whole little body swelled and the hives were like egg yolks and she was red as red could be. I scooped her up, she vomited twice and was listless in my arms, although still awake just looked completely worn out. She was prescribed a junior epi-pen by the Doctor.
When Charlie was 2 months old she had her first batch of vaccinations and reacted badly, screaming and crying, I couldn't settle her for hours and the Doctor at the time was concerned it could be a reaction to the injections, later through reactions to tomato sauce and a ready made pot of jelly we discovered it was an artificial colourant E122 Carmoisine causing the allergic reaction. Mums are told after injections to give their babies Calpol. Calpol contains E122 and it also made her extremely hyperactive.
When Charlie's allergies first became apparent I got straight on the internet to find as much info out as possible out food allergies. At this point I discovered Allergy uk and your help and support has helped us all as a family through a frightening time of unknowns.
For my birthday my husband bought me a voucher to do a Tandem Skydive as I had always wanted to do it. We both felt that I should also raise some money for Allergy uk as you guys and gals had been so helpful to us regarding fact sheets, email information and offering advice and support for our little girl.
Completed the Tandem jump Sunday 7th May at Nether Avon Airfield (north of Salisbury). 12000ft, 45 second freefall!
What can I say ..... excellent, and all for a good cause.
This is a picture of myself on the day of the jump.
Thank you Allergy UK! Keep up the good work."
Thank you so much Liz. You were very brave!
If you would like to organise your own fundraising event then please contact Dawn on 01322 611640 or email her at dawn@allergyuk.org