A mother has revealed how her nine-year-old daughter who is allergic to nuts and other foods has been tormented by bullies who threatened to throw nuts at her to “see if she will die.”
Kathrine McDonald – whose nine-year-old daughter Isabella is allergic to nuts, milk, pineapple and strawberries – told i she is on tenterhooks daily as the parent of a child with severe allergies, fearing a phone call with bad news.
Ms McDonald, who lives in a village north of Inverness in Scotland, shared her story with i as research reveals 58 per cent of parents of youngsters with allergies have had a reaction or “near miss” while at school.
The Allergy Team, which supports families living with food allergies and provides training and resources to thousands of teachers, carried out a survey of 363 parents of school children with allergies.
Of these, 58 per cent said their child had experienced an allergic reaction or “near miss” at school. Almost 40 per cent had a reaction and 12 per cent had to receive urgent medical attention from 999 emergency services.
Ms McDonald said Isabella has had a series of allergic reactions while at school, which she believes is down to a lack of understanding and awareness from other pupils who fail to realise the impact of their behaviour.
She told i that some children had threatened to throw nuts at her daughter to see if it would “kill her”, while others had deliberately put food she is allergic to on her plate.
“Isabella has been told by some pupils that they have nuts in their bag and they will throw them at her to see if she will die,” Ms McDonald said. “You wouldn’t think you would get this kind of thing with children so young.
“She has also had children put bits of pineapple, which she is very allergic to, on her plate so she has ended up leaving her lunch and not eating it.
