Allergies mean life’s tough for Evie
RAISING AWARENESS: Emma Gormley with her daughter Evie
A LUTON mum will be missing out on her favourite foods this Friday in a bid to raise awareness for her daughter’s illness.
Seven-year-old Evie Gormley suffers from eosinophilic colitis, a rare auto-immune disease that effects how and what the youngster can eat. The condition means that Evie has numerous food allergies as well as asthma, eczema, hay fever, reflux and many other symptoms relating to her illness, making everyday life very difficult.
Because of the little girl’s problems with food, she has had to have a long feeding tube inserted through her stomach which is attached to her liquidised food. Despite her condition, Evie copes well. She has even named her feeding tube “Mrs Wiggles” and her food pump “Peppa Pump”.
On Friday (May 20), Evie’s mum, Emma Gormley, 31, and many other parents across the country will be fundraising for Eosinophilic Awareness Week by eating only what their children can eat for a day. This will be a difficult task for Emma, as Evie is intolerant to many foods such as dairy products, wheat, pork, tuna, strawberries and nuts.
As well as restricting her diet. Emma will also be wearing a heavy bag pack like the one her daughter has to carry every day in order to receive her food.
Speaking about the outcomes of the campaign, Emma said: “Hopefully children will be diagnosed earlier and won’t have to go through what we did.”
When Evie was first born, doctors were puzzled as to what the problem might be. As a baby, she lost weight instead of gaining it and had regular bouts of vomiting and diarrhoea.
After years of searching for an answer, Evie was finally diagnosed at four years old when doctors placed a tube down her throat and discovered that the acid levels in her stomach were erratic. Since then, the Warden Hill Junior School pupil has spent many nights in hospital and has had to miss a lot of school due to tiredness caused by her illness and various hospital admissions.
As of yet there is no cure for Evie’s condition, it is managed with a large amount of drugs which have to be taken every day, together with low doses of chemotherapy.
The family finds it very difficult to have time out together as her allergies can flare up at any time.
Evie is currently being assessed for epilepsy which doctors believe may be causing her to have blackouts, another problem for the family. This assessment means more time in hospital for Emma and Evie.
The money that Emmma raises will go directly to Great Ormond Street’s eosinophilic research centre.
To support Emma’s campaign please log on to www.justgiving.com/Emma/Gormley. For more information about eosinophilic conditions visit www.fabed.co.uk.
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Friday 25 May 2012
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