For Every Mom Blog

He Died After Eating a Piece of Cake. Now His Parents Have an Important Message For All of Us

"Thanksgiving should be a time of coming together and celebration for families, but for one Florida family, it was a day of unthinkable loss—one that can never be forgotten. The Debbs family lost their 11-year-old son, Oakley, to food allergies after he mistakenly ate a piece of pound cake he thought was safe. Since the tragedy, Oakley’s story has filled the Facebook feeds of moms and dads of kids with food allergies—because his parents are working very hard to get an important message out to allergy parents everywhere.

You see, Oakley died in part because his parents didn’t realize how they should handle the allergy. His dad explained to Allergic Living that Oakley had severe asthma, and to them, THAT was his major health problem—they didn’t think his nut allergy was that severe."