The Two River Times - April 11th 2017

Red Sneakers March for Allergy Awareness

"It’s every parent’s nightmare: your child mistakenly eats something that contains an allergen resulting in his death.

One family’s tragedy has resulted in a widespread effort to make people aware of the dangers of food allergies and how avoidance and treatment of reactions can save lives.

For Robert and Merrill Debbs, the nightmare was all too real. While visiting family in Maine on Thanksgiving weekend, their 11-year-old son Oakley unknowingly ate a pastry that contained nuts, and a delayed reaction of more than two hours resulted in an anaphylactic seizure. Although the local EMT quickly resuscitated him, Oakley was declared brain dead four days later."