Phoebe Campbell-Harris, a 28-year-old writer and producer, nearly died at age 18 when she traveled to Paris to celebrate her friend’s birthday. “We were excited to be adults,” she said.
During the trip, the two visited a bar where they started conversing with two young French men, and the foursome eventually moved on to a nightclub.
Toward the end of the evening, Phoebe shared a kiss with one of the men, and that’s when she began to feel the telltale symptoms of anaphylaxis, a severe, life-threatening allergic reaction.
She said:
My throat felt like sandpaper. It had gone all scratchy. That is the first sign, then it becomes harder and harder to swallow and that’s when you know your throat is closing up.
In the mirror of one of the restrooms, she saw a rash had broken out across her face and neck, and upon pulling up her shirt, she saw hives spread across her stomach.
She described the sensation as her panic rose: “All of the senses become heightened. You’re trying to calm down your breath. It’s just pure panic: fight or flight.”
She administered her epinephrine auto-injector and was transported to a hospital. During the ambulance ride, her mind raced to determine what triggered the reaction, as she hadn’t eaten anything that could have contained her allergens.
Later, she realized it must have been the kiss. The young man must have consumed a cocktail or a handful of peanuts from the bar.
This was one of six times Campbell-Harris had been rushed to a hospital with a severe reaction. Now, she has made a short film loosely based on her experience in the nightclub to show the dangers of anaphylaxis and how letting down your guard, even briefly, can prove fatal.
The film, entitled A Matter of Minutes, shows a young woman developing full anaphylaxis after kissing someone at a party. She hopes it will drive home what it feels like to be in the sudden grip of anaphylactic shock.
“Unless you’ve experienced it yourself,” she said, “anaphylaxis feels like a foreign idea.”
Having suffered her first reaction at age three, she says she is forced to live in a state of constant vigilance, paying close attention to everything she consumes and even assessing whether a date she may kiss has recently eaten an allergen.
She will take small bites over time when purchasing a snack to ensure it has not been cross-contaminated with her allergens and has not eaten for 10 hours on long-haul flights.
The Natasha Allergy Research Foundation (NARF) was founded in the UK after 15-year-old Natasha Ednan-Laperouse died during a flight from London to Nice in 2016 after suffering a reaction to a Pret A Manger baguette containing undisclosed sesame. The foundation, spearheaded by Natasha’s parents, championed legislation called Natasha’s Law, which requires all pre-packed food for direct sale to include full ingredient and allergen labeling.
Ms Campbell-Harris describes the work of NARF as ‘amazing’ and credits Natasha’s law with lifting some of the burden for food allergy sufferers who have “so much onus on them already.”
Speaking about the film, NARF founder Tanya Ednan-Laperouse said she wants everyone to watch it to educate themselves on “how quickly a food allergy can escalate and how important it is to be aware of what to do in the event of a medical emergency.”
Here is a behind-the-scenes look at A Matter of Minutes featuring Ms Campbell-Harris and crew:
We will announce where the film can be viewed as soon as it becomes available in the US.
