Brandon Twp.- Hannah Schroll was admitted to the hospital 13 times when she was in first grade in the Holly Schools.
She had to be intubated three times to enable her to breathe.
Still, her life-threatening peanut allergy is difficult for some to understand.
Her mother, Wendy Schroll recalls the time a child touched Hannah after handling peanuts and Hannah turned scarlet and, the time another student deliberately shoved a cup of peanut butter in her face, telling her, ‘No one is allergic to the smell.?
But Hannah is.
So much so, in fact, that she can not eat in the Brandon Fletcher Intermediate School cafeteria where she is now a sixth-grader. She eats in the office everyday, with one friend of her choosing. An office where an epipen is also kept, in case Hannah has an allergic reaction.
Brandon Schools has had a peanut-friendly zone policy for the past three years. The policy means the food services department does not serve any food or product that has anything with peanuts in it or that has been processed with peanuts in the area.
The policy was inspired by the number of peanut allergies brought to their attention in the district. School officials are currently aware of 12 students in the district with peanut allergies.
‘We cannot call it a peanut-free zone, because parents can still send in peanut butter and jelly, peanut butter crackers, etcetera,? says Suzanne Evenson, food services director. ‘We thought it was a great idea not to serve any just in case. Many school districts are following the same policies. Some are even peanut-free. If the state mandates us to be peanut free, we will have to do that, but we’re not at the moment.?
Evenson sees a mandatory peanut-free policy, where peanuts are not allowed to be in the school at all, as a possibility in the years to come, as she sees an increasing percentage of students with peanut allergies.
Brandon Schools Superintendent Tom Miller says he encourages parents not to send peanut products in.
When the Schrolls were in the Holly Schools, peanuts were eliminated from Hannah’s second-grade classroom. Still, says Wendy Schroll, some parents were really upset.
‘They said things like, ‘You can’t tell me what to do,? or ‘It’s the only thing my kid will eat,?? she said. ‘They thought it was inconvenient.?
Dr. Robert Cutler of Allergy & Asthma Specialists of Bloomfield Hills says literature suggests there has been an increase in peanut allergies. Overall, less than 1 percent of the population has a peanut allergy, but it is still the most common cause of death among food allergies in the United States. The allergen is found in potato chips and baked goods made with peanut oil, as well as in foods with no apparent peanut ingredients, but that have been made in the same plant as a food with peanuts was made.
‘Tiny amounts can be lethal,? said Cutler, who has a grandchild who is allergic to peanuts. ‘It would be best to not have any peanuts (in school).The worst thing would be a parent loses a kid because they ate something that could have been avoided. If a peanut-allergic child is in an environment where there are peanuts, to us it is the same as having a loaded gun in the environment.?
For the sake of her daughter, Wendy Schroll would love to see a ban on peanuts, so Hannah could eat with her friends and not have to worry about her life being endangered.
‘You can’t force people and to get upset doesn’t do any good,? says Schroll. ‘Is it worth a battle and war? Her right to live is worth more than someone’s right to eat peanut butter, but not worth a battle, because she is safe (with the current policy).?
The Schrolls have previously dealt with not being able to go to the mall or ballgames.
‘It’s complicated,? says Hannah. ‘I’m sad and mad I can’t eat with more than one person at lunch… I sometimes worry that I’ll have a reaction and have to go to the hospital, but sometimes I forget about it and live my life like a regular kid.?