Support for people with life threatening allergies

A woman with a severe, life threatening allergy has started a support group to help support others affected by severe allergies, or anaphylaxis.

Katy Hannaford, from Newton Ferrers, Plymouth, has a severe drug allergy herself and is also carer to her daughter 12-year-old daughter, Alicia, who has multiple severe allergies.

Food allergies are thought to affect around 5-8% of children and 2-4 % of adults. Annually, there are around 30,000 hospitalisations and every year an average of 20 people will die from anaphylaxis.

Katy’s support group is run in conjunction with the Anaphylaxis Campaign, the only UK-wide charity to support people with severe, life threatening allergies.

Katy said: “I helped start the group because living with severe allergies, whether allergic yourself or as a carer for someone else with anaphylaxis, can be really difficult and have a profound impact on your daily life. It can cause a great deal of stress and anxiety – particularly if it’s a child with anaphylaxis you’re caring for.

"In the beginning, you worry that anything they eat could threaten their life. Helping others is, for me, a great way to regain some of the control you feel you’ve lost and provide some tangible support to others who are finding it hard to cope.”

Anaphylaxis Campaign CEO, Lynne Regent said: “It’s brilliant that Katy has decided to run a support group for us in Plymouth.

"Many people in the general population don’t understand just how serious allergy and anaphylaxis can be. Our support groups, like the one Katy is running, provide a vital touch point for affected families and individuals and are a really positive way for them to support each other.”

The group next group meeting will be on Monday 19 May 2014. You can find out more or book your place now here.