It was Thanksgiving in Maine when 11-year-old Oakley Debbs was having a vacation with his family. The straight-A student from West Palm Beach, Florida, was also a star athlete, even though he had asthma and food allergies.
His family ordered a Thanksgiving basket for the holiday and Oakley chose to eat a slice of cake from the selection of treats.
What happened next was really sad and made his family and friends start a campaign to raise awareness so that this wouldn’t happen to others.
Oakley loved tennis, football, soccer and he even ran marathons despite dealing with asthma and nut allergies. His family called him a “brave warrior” for fighting these issues.
On November 24th, Oakley decided to have some pound cake that had been left on the kitchen table where they were staying in Maine. His mom Merrill said Oakley always checked labels before eating anything but didn’t see any signs of nuts.
“He thought it was just cake,” said his dad Robert. “But after he ate it, he came over saying it might have nuts.” After Merrill tried some too, she agreed it tasted like nuts which turned out to be walnuts.
“Merrill did what we usually do; she gave him Benadryl,” Robert explained. “He came back saying he felt fine.” At that moment, his only symptom was one hive on his lip.
However shortly after that Oakley complained about chest pains then started throwing up. His parents called 911 but when the ambulance got there ten minutes later, he was blue. Oakley’s airways had closed up and his heart stopped beating.
I am writing on behalf of Robert J. Debbs Merrill Debbs and Oakley’s twin sister Olivia…
Posted by Tyler Debbs Squire on Saturday November 26th 2016
The family then had to deal with such an awful loss while trying to understand why they couldn’t save Oakley.
“I don’t think my amazing son should have died,” said Merrill.
They started the Red Sneaker Foundation which teaches people how to recognize signs of anaphylaxis—a serious life-threatening reaction to allergens.
Oakley loved red sneakers so they used them as a strong symbol for more education about food allergies in communities everywhere!
Even if there are mild allergy symptoms experts say you should use epinephrine right away!
“My child was incredible; he was such a good kid,” said Merrill. “And I always believed he’d make an impact – I just didn’t know it would be after he passed away! That’s part of my motivation – keeping Oakley’s legacy alive.”
Please share this story so we can raise awareness about food allergies & help prevent tragedies like this from happening again.
