>> She had her first episode when she was 2. It was a quick diagnosis as to her allergies:
dairy and eggs. Living with that diagnosis was confusing and scary because we were never
quite sure when something was gonna happen.
>> She loved art. She loved music. She loved plays. She loved sports. She was so involved
in her life, it was just — that's what made it so incredibly hard for us was that — she
was a wow.
>> When Isaac was first diagnosed at a year old, he was found to have severe allergies
to milk, to eggs, to peanuts and to treenuts. It began a life of...a different kind of life,
suddenly terrifying, never thinking that a little...couple of bites of French toast could
cause you to have to rush your child in the ambulance to the hospital.
>> Food allergies have risen dramatically in the last 20 years. Twenty years ago, it
was 1 percent maybe 2 percent. Now more recent stages are seeing up to at least 6 percent,
possibly even higher.
>> Azra had just turned 11 when he passed away. When somebody dies, they say where you
know, what do you want to do with donations so, we said we would like the money to be
channeled to food allergy. Because of his death, we were able to change — completely
change — our family's quality of life and especially his brother.
>> The treatments for food allergies have been completely revolutionized in the past
two or three years. It's really one of the most transformative things I've seen and I've
been here for 20 years.
>> Patients like Isaac are heroes. In order to be in a study, you actually need to eat
the food that you're allergic to. So, they have this reaction, they get really sick,
they probably get medicine. Again, this needs to be done in a place like Children's Hospital
where we're able to treat a reaction.
>> We have to trick your body, reteach your body that these once harmful things — what
the body thought was harmful — is not really harmful.
>> Food allergies can actually kill a child. That is what I fear the most.
>> She ate really fast that night. She wolfed down her food. There were so many kids there
and she was so excited, and so happy.
>> It was a pickle and a piece of chicken and a piece of bread and some juice.
>> It was probably the juice that she drank and they don't flush the machines through
as carefully as would need to be flushed through for somebody as sensitive as her.
>> The incident was like a rattle snake bit her. It was a hundred times worse than anything
that she'd ever experienced.
>> What we wanted to do was in some way make some meaning out of her death and honor her life.
To hear about kids go through these studies and come out being able to tolerate
what they're allergic to, have it every day, which is something that we want for other
kids so that nobody goes through what our daughter had to go through.
>> There's a light at the end of the tunnel. There will be success in this. We can accelerate
that by getting the money to the researchers and to the labs and have continued great results.
>> This is one disease that they can fix. For so many other diseases that maybe they
don't have any clue or they, you know, they've maybe scraped the surface, but with food allergies,
they have gone so deep and they can fix it, they can fix it. So, if they just have enough
money to fund more studies, it will be a different world.
>> It was really amazing, when I could see that I could eat something that everybody
else could eat.
>> We used to not really have a treatment. The treatment was really the families and
children had to avoid the food. And now there's actually hope.
>> We're just at that edge of all of these amazing discoveries and really being able
to take children's lives and improve them on a very large scale. It's tremendously exciting,
but we can't do it without philanthropy.
>> Having hope changes your life and changes your viewpoint. I get calls and parents call
me up all the time "What can I do?" "Is there anything out there I can help save my child
so he doesn't have this anymore?" If you asked me 10 years ago, I would say there's nothing
but now I can tell you there is hope.
>> I want to thank CHOP for giving me the opportunity to take part in these studies.
It has made everything in my life easier from going out to eat to seeing my friends.
>> I don't have to worry that much anymore about coming in contact with peanuts, and
having an allergic reaction.
>> Not having to worry about food allergies is so great. And no more trips to the hospital.
>> It has changed my life completely because I can go out to restaurants with friends.
I can have...go to ice cream parlors.
>> Hi, I'm Alexis. Thanks to CHOP I can now eat peanut butter. Bye
>> I was at sleep-away camp and there was a kid who had a birthday cake and I had it.
It was really good.