Parents Magazine

This Family Just Lost Their Son to Food Allergies: Here's Their Important Message

"The story of one family's unthinkable loss over the Thanksgiving holiday is all over the Facebook feeds of parents, everywhere, and that is just how the Debbs want it. Because after their son Oakley passed away from a severe food allergy attack, this Florida-based family doesn't want anyone else to make the fatal mistake they did in waiting to get their beloved son urgent help.

According to Allergic Living, 11-year-old Oakley had a tree nut and peanut allergy in addition to asthma. "We have been in the hospital many times for asthma, so the nut [allergy] wasn't our real issue," Oakley's heartbroken dad Robert explained. "The focus had been 95 percent on controlling the asthma."