Almost four years on from the heartbreaking death of their daughter Ellen, a Northumberland couple have backed a hard-hitting campaign to raise awareness of the dangers of asthma, allergies and anaphylaxis.
The "three As" combined to take Ellen Raffell's live at the age of just 16 in 2019. She suffered an allergic reaction to, the family think, eating some crisps at her home in Blyth. Initially, parents Graham and Delyth thought that the issue was her asthma.
The couple have now taken part in a powerful film where they lay out the horrendous circumstances of Ellen's death as part of a campaign from Beat Anaphylaxis to raise awareness of what it is and the signs of the lethal condition.
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Speaking about the moments Ellen became ill, at the video's launch mum Delyth said: "It's hard to find the words for how horrendous that is to deal with and obviously the next two weeks were a blur." When Ellen fell ill, she went into cardiac arrest.
Her parents began administering CPR until paramedics arrived and she was transported her to intensive care at Newcastle's Royal Victoria Infirmary.. But her brain was not getting enough oxygen and she passed away peacefully four days later on October 31, 2019.
Delyth continued: "I don't want any other mother or father to have to go through that. I hope that really hard hitting message will help people to think maybe I should get some more information.
"It's an absolute tragedy for anyone to lose a child. It's the worst possible thing and unfortunately we are not the only ones. Every day after is unbearable. You have to put a face on and get out there and do what you can. This is us going out there and doing what we can."
Ellen chose to donate her organs - and so saved four others. And since her death, her family have raised more than £35,000 through the charity they have set up - Ellen's Gift of Hope - which works to support disabled children. They hope to hit £50,000 by the end of next year.
In the video, both parents recount the awful moments as the reaction hit Ellen. Graham said: "Ellen, even though I don't think she was panicking, but she knew something was wrong. She came down and sat next to us on the bottom of the stairs. She put her hand on my knee and said 'daddy, please don't let me die'."
He explained how she had turned blue before, with the support of the emergency services, he began CPR. He said: "As a father I felt helpless, within seconds I saw the colour drain out of her face."
The couple said they had just thought it was an asthma attack, until it wasn't. "We thought it was the same, and it wasn't the same," Delyth said.
The campaign aims to raise awareness about the connections between asthma and anaphylaxis - and how being asthmatic can make it harder for someone's body to fight off an anaphylactic reaction.
Delyth added: "I’ll miss my child until the day I die and until the day I die I’ll raise awareness and help other people in her name so that her life means something. I’d encourage parents, carers, educational professionals, friends and family of people with asthma or allergies to go on and have a look at the information."
Beat Anaphylaxis project lead - Dr Andrew Bright added "The Raffell family have been devastated by the loss of Ellen to anaphylaxis. Their courage and strength in sharing their tragic story, will undoubtedly raise awareness of anaphylaxis and hopefully enable the public and professionals involved in the care of children and young people to better recognise and manage this life-threatening condition."
Speaking on behalf of the North East and North Cumbria Child Health and Wellbeing Network, project delivery manager Louise Dauncey said: "It has been a privilege to be able to support the production of this important film which ensures that Ellen has a legacy that will help many other families recognise the signs of anaphylaxis. We are proud to launch the film today and to continue to support this vital work."
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