The following article is from the Winter 2013 of Allergic Living magazine.

Michael Saffioti’s mom Rose thought her 22-year-old son was doing the right thing by turning himself into police after a missed court date last July. But for the Washington state man, who had a life-threatening allergy to dairy, one night in jail turned into a death sentence.

The young man had landed in the court system on a misdemeanor marijuana possession charge – he spoke of using pot to curb crippling anxiety about his food allergy and asthma – and then a legal technicality led to him spending a night in the county prison.

Under normal circumstances, he would have gone before a judge then been released, but Saffioti never made it past breakfast. According to witness testimony from fellow inmates, the young man was given a meal that included a pancake and oatmeal, and when he reminded staff of his dairy allergy, they removed the pancake and told him the oatmeal was safe.

After a few spoonfuls, Saffioti began having difficulty breathing and asked for his asthma medication. Soon after, the prisoners were locked into their cells and the guards changed shifts. Saffioti’s reaction continued to worsen. According to Anne Bremner, the Seattle lawyer representing the family, Saffioti pressed his emergency button and called for medical help, but his emergency light got turned off; as his breathing grew more labored, Saffioti pleaded for someone to call 911.

Other inmates say they began pressing their emergency buttons and yelling for help, making clear that this guy was not faking. Their calls were ignored.

Saffioti was supposed to be housed in the prison’s medical ward, and his mother had made sure that corrections staff had his asthma medication, EpiPen auto-injector and medical records, and yet no help came for at least 20 minutes. A prison trustee (an inmate who has work privileges) said he watched in horror as Saffioti finally collapsed in his cell. By the time paramedics arrived, it was too late.

“The trustee is a tough guy, but he said it’s the worst thing he’s ever seen,” says Bremner. “They let this guy die, and he was begging for help.”

Next: Mother’s Actions

Two years later, Sabrina tragically died from an anaphylactic reaction at her high school.
But her legacy – and her voice – live on. CBC Radio has kindly given Allergic Living permission to relaunch its web feature built around “A Nutty Tale”. The following documentary serves as a testament to a great girl, one we will never forget. – Gwen Smith

Also, read the story: Sabrina’s Law

UNITED STATES

FAAN’s Back-to-School Tool Kit
FAAN’s Food Allergy Action Plan
Food Allergy Initiative’s Authorization of Emergency Treatment Form
FAAN/FAI e-learning resource, comprehensive tool for teachers. www.allergyready.com
Federal 504 Plan
AAFA on the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)
National Assn of School Nurses’ Anaphylaxis Provision of Care documents

CANADA

Comprehensive resource - Allergy Safe Communities site.

• Allergy Safe Communities’ Emergency Plan for EpiPen
• Allergy Safe Communities’ Emergency Plan for Twinject
• Sample letter from principal
• Sample letter from teacher
• Steps for school anaphylaxis plan
  

Also: Canadian School Boards Association publication:
Anaphylaxis: A Handbook for School Boards (New Edition)

Asthma Action Plans

• Alberta’s Asthma Action Plan (Canada)
  
• The Lung Association’s Action Plan (Canada)
• AAFA’s Student Asthma Action Card (USA)
• American Academy of Family Physicians Asthma Action Plan (USA)

Allergic Living‘s School Articles

• Food in the Classroom – click here
• Allergic Living’s award-winning article – Sabrina’s Law
• Hear Sabrina – Her moving CBC radio documentary – A Nutty Tale
• FAAMA: Inside the U.S. Food Allergy Law here
• Laurie Harada: Talking to School Officials here
  
• Laurie Harada: Off to Kindergarten - here
• Laurie Harada: If Your Child is Bullied - here
• Food Allergy and the Risky Teenage Years - here
• Sabrina’s Law: The Girl Who Inspired Change - here
• Who’s Watching Lunch at School? New excerpt here
  
• Off to College with Allergies - here
• Teens Talk: Life with Allergies - here
• Samantha Yaffe: Grade 1 and Letting Go – click here
• Kids, Anxiety and Anaphylaxis - here
• Backlash Against School Accommodations - here
• Air Quality at School - here
• The September Asthma Spike - here
• Sara Shannon’s Journey with Sabrina’s Law - here
• Reader’s Story: Sabrina’s Law Success - here
• Sabrina’s Law in Context – For a Kid, Dairy Allergy is a Life Changer

State and Provincial anaphylaxis laws, policies and guidelines, click here.

With mock earnestness, Sara Shannon replies, “I think you’re probably the best-looking girl in the world.” Sabrina collapses in a fit of giggles.

SOME KIDS just have that energy, that sparkle in the eyes, that irrepressible spirit. Sabrina Shannon was one of those, a pure pistol of a kid. Her personality shone through in the radio documentary she produced with her aunt, Kathleen Whelan, which originally aired on CBC Radio’s Outfront program back in 2001.

The documentary was a first-person narrative about living with allergies. Sabrina, who was at risk of anaphylaxis to peanut, dairy products and soy, proved a natural at the mike, interviewing her girlfriends, her mother and holding forth about her allergies. It was a great 12 minutes of audiotape.

But this anecdote takes place in the past tense. Sabrina’s tale turns, sadly, to one of tragedy. She is the allergic kid who didn’t make it, the bright light extinguished.

On September 30, 2003, Sabrina died in hospital following an anaphylactic reaction. Her mom, her dad, her Aunt Kathleen, her many other relatives and friends have been devastated by her death. But this is also a story of hope born of tragedy, of an organized effort to do justice to Sabrina’s memory by making sure no other child suffers a similar, likely preventable death.

Sabrina, the girl who had her final lunch from the high school cafeteria at the age of 13, became the rallying point for a new law that requires anaphylaxis safety plans in the schools of Ontario. It is legislation that could influence widespread change in schools across North America.

***

ON SEPTEMBER 29, 2003, Sabrina balked at her mother’s efforts to have her take yet another allergen-free sandwich to school. It was the end of the teen’s first month of Grade 8 at Bishop Smith Catholic High School in Pembroke, a small city in the Ottawa Valley. She told her mom that the previous week, she’d eaten French fries once in the cafeteria after checking that they didn’t contain any of her allergy triggers. The fries were safe – and tasty – and she wanted eat them again at lunch today.

Sara Shannon resisted at first, but she also trusted Sabrina’s judgment. Her daughter had always been responsible about her allergies, asking the right questions before eating, always carrying her EpiPen in her backpack, along with the puffer for her asthma. Sara agreed.

Around 11:40 that morning, Sabrina and her best friend went to the cafeteria, and Sabrina ordered fries after again making sure that they were cooked in vegetable rather than peanut oil.

In the class after lunch, Sabrina began to wheeze. Thinking she was having an asthma attack, the teen headed for the school office at the other end of the building. By the time she got there, Sabrina was in trouble, and kept repeating “it’s my asthma.”

A teacher raced to Sabrina’s locker to get her EpiPen in case it was in fact her food allergies; school officials called an ambulance. Sabrina collapsed and lost consciousness, going into cardiac arrest before the EpiPen could be administered, before the ambulance arrived.