Our child suffered anaphylaxis on board United Airlines Flight bound for London, UK

When lunch was served, our child in haste, being rather hungry grabbed the cookie which was part of the meal. This was unusual behavior from him as he normally verifies if his food contains nuts. We can presume that this time his appetite got the better of him. By the time I realized what was happening he had already taken a bite (albeit a very small one). I tried to read the wrapper which was not easy as it was a small font red color print on transparent plastic. The mysterious cookie had two separate labels 1) Fruit Jam cookie 2) Almond cookie. It obviously WAS NOT a fruit jam cookie.
Meanwhile, my son started to complain about feeling strange on the tongue. Soon he couldn’t speak clearly and started to drool. I straightaway gave him Benadryl and started to get the Epi-pen ready. We notified the crew immediately. When the air hostess arrived, she told us that I could not give my son the epi-pen as they would have to land the plane if I did so (per protocol, he has to be taken to emergency after Epi). An announcement for a doctor was made, there wasn’t any on board. A paramedic on board came to help us, he examined his vitals and proclaimed him out of danger ( and yes my son was unable to speak clearly at the time). He said our bottle of Benadryl should be good enough for the journey. He was well meaning and was helpful but clearly did not understand anaphylaxis. I insisted they call a physician (place a call from plane) and once the symptoms were described to the physician, we were given the green light to proceed with Epi.
This entire nerve racking experience took almost 30 minutes. Once Epi was given, my son’s speech improved and he stopped drooling. UA made an emergency landing in Denver and we were rushed to ER in an ambulance which was waiting for us. I should point out that once UA realized the severity of the situation, they did everything right and supported us every way possible.
We were of course very very lucky, our boy was discharged that very night and we proceeded to our planned vacation HOWEVER its fairly clear that training, awareness and a clear protocol in managing anaphylaxis is essential for any airline crew.
While this experience has shaken me, I am resolved to do my best to create awareness for food allergies and raise people’s consciousness about this new epidemic.