I went for a run and nearly died: What having anaphylaxis taught me about life

August 16, 2026 — 5:00am

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We are the people you don’t want to have over for dinner. We are the ones who make everyone’s lives difficult. We are the food exceptionalists who make trouble when a restaurant asks, “does anyone in your party have an allergy?”

Hell yes, we do. How long have you got?

Recently, I was asked this question as I completed a reservation form for a week away at a place where meals are provided. I got halfway through the list when I realised it would have been easier just to attach my immunologist’s latest report, with copious apologies.

Navigating the world as a chronic allergy sufferer puts you in a difficult position; you are constantly required to protect your own safety by putting other people out.

You must disrupt the social flow of that most pleasurable of human interactions – sharing meals – by listing the substances that might kill you if they are included in the meals.

‘It triggers an explosion’: What causes allergies and can they be prevented?

It’s a vibe killer. Who wants to break bread with someone who can’t eat wheat? (Or rye. Or barley.)

So it was with some relief that I read, this week, that the problems of the chronically allergic are finally being treated seriously at the highest political levels. A group of allergy experts travelled to Canberra to launch the Parliamentary Friends of Allergy group, in the hope that political influence will lead to better research and data.

According to Professor Kirsten Perrett, who led the delegation, one in three Australians now have an allergy, yet we have no comprehensive national data on allergic disease. Perrett, who heads the National Allergy Centre of Excellence at Murdoch Children’s Research Institute, would like allergy questions added to the census.

Shockingly,........

© Brisbane Times