How a Yorkshire graduate with a severe nut allergy is empowering young people

Navigating life as a teenager or young person is hard enough, without having to manage a health condition that has cut too many young lives short.

But for those growing up with severe anaphylaxis - the medical term for a severe allergic reaction that can be life threatening - it can often be embarrassing or difficult to inform someone new about what they are allergic to.

A recent study from The Food Standard Agency showed only 56 per cent of young people with a food allergy reported telling others when eating out.

But Daniel Kelly, the University of Huddersfield graduate, who has had a severe nut allergy since he was five years old, wants to give a voice to these young people through a major national movement, inspired by his time spent in Yorkshire.

He said: "I understand first-hand how getting diagnosed with an allergy can change your life."

Mr Kelly, 27, originally from Bolton, who works in social media, has launched the 'Break the Stigma,' campaign which includes a fashion driven video featuring Love Island’s Jack Fowler, one of the few celebrities to have and be vocal about a life-threatening allergy.

The TV personality joins Mr Kelly and four other advocates in the video, all who live with at least one life-threatening allergy - nine-year-old school boy Callum Newman, who lives with 28 allergies, alongside Kathryn Barnes, a West End theatre performer.

Thalina Houghton, a rising tennis star, also features and Tash Salmon - a social media editor and journalist for the I.

Speaking in the campaign video Mr, Fowler said the more people speak about their allergies, the more their confidence can build.

“My best advice for someone with an allergy is to talk about it. Some people don’t take it seriously, some people don’t think allergies are life-threatening but depending on the person and depending on the allergy it definitely is,” he said. “It is difficult at times but I have found it easier the more I spoke about it and I found out that a lot more people had allergies just like me.”

The video includes stories of its advocates, with the aim for embarrassed teenagers to be able to relate and feel empowered to speak up in the future.

“It can be really scary speaking up about your allergy when you meet new people and friends,” said Mr Kelly. “It was important for me to do the campaign to empower young people living with these severe allergies to have the confidence to speak up and to know they can lead a normal life.”

Reflecting on the fashion influence of the video Mr Kelly added: “Being a young person growing up with allergies, there weren’t many campaigns which I resonated with and it was always campaigns that have been very medical and clinical but that doesn’t resonate with young people.

“By putting the campaign into a fashion context it was engaging and relatable to young people.”

The campaign builds upon Mr Kelly’s groundwork from his ‘May Contain,’ allergy awareness and lifestyle platform, which was inspired by the final year project of his graphic design degree at the University of Huddersfield in 2015.

He created a fashion magazine that took the EpiPen (or Adrenaline Auto Injector) – a device that injects adrenaline – out of the usual medical context, and made it more relatable to young people in fashion-related photos.

Mr Kelly, whose blog is one of the most popular allergy blogs in the UK, and his podcast has seen him interview well-known allergy sufferers including Olympic swimming champion Mark Foster, said his allergy campaigning started due to a lack of awareness from his fellow students.

“I still find that people do not understand how severe having a food allergy is," said Mr Kelly, who is now a youth ambassador for the national Anaphylaxis Campaign.

“Especially at university when I spoke to friends about my allergy they were always curious and interested.

“This sparked the beginning of my project and campaign which I am passionate to continue.”

Increase in hospital admissions for allergic reactions and anaphylactic shock

There has been an increase in hospital admissions for allergic reactions and anaphylactic shock in England over the last four years.

There were 5497 hospital admissions in 2018-19 for anaphylactic shock, according to NHS Digital up from 4479 admissions in 2015-16.

Data also shows that there were 33,904 hospital admissions in 2018-19 for allergies - up from 25,167 admissions in 2015-16.

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