Wigan mum reveals she had to plead with airline staff to take her daughter's severe nut allergy seriously
A Wigan mum has spoken about the terrifying moment she had to "beg" an airline for help to protect her daughter with a severe peanut allergy.
Sarah Bacon shared her experiences as her husband Matt ran more than 70 miles to raise awareness of food allergies and support a charity set up after the death of another schoolgirl.
On a Manchester to Paris flight, Sarah said cabin crew were hesitant to make a general announcement asking passengers to avoid eating peanuts – a step other airlines had previously taken without issue.
Instead, a flight attendant only warned those sitting nearby.
After asking repeatedly, Sarah said she finally convinced the crew to address the whole cabin.
The trip was particularly important to Savannah, who was travelling to Disneyland to take part in a dance performance.
Sarah said: “As usual upon boarding I informed the airline of Savannah’s severe allergies and that she is airborne to peanuts.
"On our flight out the attendant went to three rows in front and behind and informed them of the allergy. Some time later an announcement still hadn’t been made.
"I asked when they were going to and he replied, ‘we don’t need to, we have informed the rows surrounding you’. I asked if an announcement could still be made given the severity to which he replied, ‘would it make you feel better?’ I responded, ‘yes, it would, the whole plane needs to be aware given it is airborne’.
"He then said he will have to ask his supervisor. Eventually they made the announcement after making me feel like I had to beg for something so simple yet potentially life-saving.”
On the return flight, however, the situation was even worse.
She said a crew member initially refused to make any announcement at all, leaving her to approach surrounding passengers herself.
Sarah added: “Our flight home was the worst experience I have yet to have flying.
"When boarding I informed the attendant, to which she replied, ‘that’s okay, we don’t serve nuts’.
"She didn’t even ask where we were sitting. I asked if they would be making an announcement and she replied ‘no’. I asked why and advised again of her severe airborne allergy and I have never been on a flight where it is not announced before, her response in a snotty tone was she ‘will try’.
"This, of course, filled me with anxiety for the flight ahead. Five minutes later no announcement, 10 minutes later and hearing people starting to ruffle through their snack bags, still no announcement.
"I started to panic, wishing I could get off the plane and fly with another airline but not being able to do so. I gave Savannah 5ml of antihistamine as a protection/precaution and stood up to politely inform the passengers around us of Savannah’s allergies and requested they don’t eat any nuts due to the severity of her allergies.
"However I knew this message only got to a few people. Twenty minutes had now passed and two announcements already made, but still nothing about her allergies. I asked why the announcement hadn’t been made and she snapped, ‘I am busy and not had time, give me five minutes!’
"Even Savannah asked me when they would be making the announcement, obviously feeling anxious for her own safety at this point.
"Eventually, as the plane was starting to take off, a quiet muffled announcement was made.
"If only the attendee knew how busy she would end up being if Savannah did have a bad reaction whilst on board. Thankfully it was a short one-hour flight, which felt like a lifetime counting down each minute to safety.
"It takes all of two minutes maximum to advise all passengers that somebody is on board with a severe allergy. Why is this such an issue and made to feel like a massive task/inconvenience? Why do we have to beg for our safety to be considered?
"Why do most people still not understand that allergies can be serious and not a choice?”
In support of Savannah, her dad Matt ran 196 laps (70.5 miles) around The Brick Community Stadium.
He began the challenge just before 7am and completed it in just under 13 hours.
He ran 14 laps – one for each of the 14 main allergens – as part of the 14 for 14 challenge, which was set up by Sarah and Matt to raise awareness of food allergies, as well as money for the Natasha Allergy Research Foundation, set up in memory of Natasha Ednan-Laperouse.
There were also stalls, children’s crafts, tombola and raffles.
All of the proceeds from the raffle and tombola will be donated to the foundation.
Natasha died from eating sesame seeds that were baked into the dough of a Pret A Manger baguette on July 17, 2016, aged 15.
She was on a British Airways plane heading on holiday to Nice and had no way of receiving the urgent medical care that she needed.
Her father injected her with two EpiPens but they made no difference, such was the severity of her allergic reaction. Natasha went into multiple cardiac arrests.
The pilot decided not to make an emergency landing but to continue for another hour to its destination.
Following her death, her parents campaigned for Natasha’s Law, which came into force in October 1, 2021 and requires all food businesses in England, Wales and Northern Ireland to include full ingredient and allergen labelling on pre-packed for direct sale foods.
People are encouraged to choose an activity that excites or motivates them and complete it 14 times either on Natasha’s day of Wednesday, October 1 or spread it across the week to raise money for the foundation.