A Child Suffered Severe Allergic Reaction After Smelling Peanuts Onboard SIA Flight
There are now calls for airlines to stop serving peanuts.
By Sadho Ram — 21 Jul 2017, 03:42 AM
In an almost fatal case of anaphylaxis, a three-year-old boy suffered severe allergic reaction towards peanuts onboard an SIA flight
According to a report by Australian Broadcasting Corporation, the child was travelling with his parents to Melbourne from a holiday to Thailand last Wednesday.
His parents had asked Singapore Airlines (SIA) for a nut-free meal for him, as he suffers severe allergic towards peanuts, a condition known as anaphylaxis.
However, while the airline provided them with the special meal they had requested for their son, the airline didn't expect other passengers to be served peanuts as a snack.
After hundreds of packets of peanuts were opened at once, the mist and smell from the nuts spread around in the cabin, making the three-year-old extremely sick.
He started vomiting, telling his parents that he doesn't "feel good".
His eyes started to swell and he couldn't speak properly
The little boy's condition made other families sitting nearby to panic.
"The family behind us, the mother was quite traumatised because she felt that she had caused it, and her children and she kept apologising," the boy's mother told ABC.
The SIA flight was less than an hour into its seven-hour flight.
However, considering how the whiff of peanuts in the cabin air was reportedly strong enough to have caused the boy to suffer a potentially fatal allergic reaction, SIA flight crew then removed all peanut packets from the area. And after being made aware of the situation, they also suspended the service of peanuts in the economy section.
Fortunately, though, they were carrying four pens of adrenaline and other anti-allergy medication, which helped save their son
Meanwhile, Singapore Airlines has apologised to the family "for the distress they experienced during their flight".
The SIA has reportedly said that they would be "reviewing this incident."
The family with their son Marcus who suffered from anaphylaxis on a Singapore Airlines flight.
Image via James Hancock/ABC NewsFollowing the incident, the family has requested Singapore Airlines and others to stop serving peanuts to passengers onboard
"All they have to do is just stop serving peanuts and there are so many snacks," the family was quoted saying by ABC, which added that the family has lodged a formal complaint with the airline.
"Obviously, we can't body search everyone for peanuts and stop everyone bringing peanuts onto the plane. But if you're knowingly serving hundreds and hundreds of packets of peanuts at one time in a plane where there is almost certainly going to be someone who has an allergy, that's just careless and irresponsible and potentially fatal."