How Waterloo Road’s powerful food allergy storyline could save lives

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A compelling new story arc in the BBC school drama Waterloo Road is drawing attention to the serious and potentially fatal consequences of food allergies. It’s highlighting just how dangerous these allergies can be.

Tonight on BBC One, I’m watching a truly harrowing scene unfold. It centers around a student, Hope Drake – brilliantly portrayed by Savannah Kunyo – who suffers a severe allergic reaction, specifically anaphylaxis, at school. The trigger? Unfortunately, she unknowingly consumed food containing dairy, something she’s severely allergic to. It’s a difficult watch, but a really important one, highlighting the very real dangers faced by those with allergies. You can see it on BBC One tonight.

This is a deeply disturbing and emotional film – especially for individuals who have experienced the loss of, or a near-loss of, loved ones due to food allergies, and the millions of people in the UK who live with these conditions.

Food allergy cases in the UK have risen sharply, more than doubling since 2008. Tragically, over 5,000 people in England require hospital treatment each year due to severe allergic reactions – known as food anaphylaxis.

My daughter, Natasha, tragically passed away at the age of 15 after accidentally consuming a baguette sandwich containing sesame, an allergen she was severely allergic to. Unfortunately, sesame wasn’t mentioned as an ingredient on the packaging, and the seeds themselves weren’t visible. If the sandwich had been correctly labelled with allergen information, Natasha would not have eaten it, and her death could have been avoided. It was a completely preventable tragedy.

After our daughter Natasha passed away, my husband, Nadim, and I established The Natasha Allergy Research Foundation. Our goal is to make life better for people in the UK with food allergies by funding medical studies, raising awareness, and providing education.

Considering how many people have food allergies, it’s really important that they’re shown accurately in the media. After all, media like films and TV shows can be a great way to teach people and influence what they think. However, food allergies are often portrayed incorrectly in these shows.

Consider the recent movie The Roses, featuring Olivia Colman and Benedict Cumberbatch. While it has received several critiques, the most concerning issue is its medical inaccuracy.

As a movie reviewer, I often think about how stories impact us, and that got me thinking about real-life emergencies. With so many people – especially kids and young adults – dealing with food allergies these days, it’s absolutely crucial that everyone understands how to handle a medical emergency if one happens. It’s not just a nice-to-know; it’s essential knowledge, and frankly, a bit like a plot twist you *need* to be prepared for. Knowing what to do could really make a difference.

In the movie, Colman plays Ivy, a character who is allergic to raspberries. This allergy is cleverly woven into the story, creating both dramatic tension and humorous moments .

Denying medical care to a person having an allergic reaction, like what’s shown in The Roses, is both unsafe and a reckless act.

As a total cinema devotee, I noticed something concerning in the film. The way they showed Ivy using the adrenaline auto-injector – the AAI, or EpiPen – wasn’t quite right. She injects it into her arm, but the correct spot is actually the outer thigh. Honestly, that one mistake could have been fatal for her character, and it’s a detail that really bothered me as someone who pays attention to these things. It’s important to show medical procedures accurately, even in fiction, and this felt like a significant oversight. It could potentially mislead viewers.

Sharing accurate stories about food allergies and anaphylaxis could help people understand them better, but this scene unfortunately uses a medical emergency simply for dramatic effect. Food allergies are not something to joke about, and they aren’t a matter of personal preference; they are a serious health issue. They happen because the body’s immune system doesn’t work correctly, and can be dangerous-even fatal-for some people.

It was great to see the team from Waterloo Road reach out to Natasha’s Foundation to work together on a new story about food allergies. It felt like a positive and welcome collaboration.

The discussion began several months ago, focusing on the ways a person with food allergies might accidentally consume something they’re allergic to.

We collaborated with the writers, offering expert advice on recognizing anaphylaxis – its signs and symptoms – and how to handle a food allergy emergency. This includes quickly giving an AAI (auto-injectable epinephrine) into the outer thigh, positioning the person lying down, calling for an ambulance, and administering a second AAI if there’s no improvement after five minutes.

I’m confident that Waterloo Road’s choice to feature this plotline, and their dedication to accuracy, will significantly increase understanding of food allergies – potentially even saving lives.

Natasha’s Foundation is directly helping schools ensure children with food allergies are safe and can fully participate in the classroom.

Approximately two students in each classroom have a confirmed food allergy, and about one in five allergic reactions to food occur while children are at school. As the number of students with food allergies increases, it’s crucial that school staff receive adequate training. However, research conducted by the charity alongside the NASUWT teachers’ union reveals that 67 percent of teachers haven’t received any allergy awareness training.

To fill this need, the charity developed Allergy School, a learning program that provides schools with free materials to improve knowledge, safety, and understanding of food allergies.

Alongside the current Waterloo Road storyline, we’ve released new materials for secondary schools. These include a self-check tool for schools to evaluate their practices, helpful advice on creating policies and safety measures to better support, safeguard, and include students, and a complimentary short film for both staff and students demonstrating how to handle a food allergy emergency.

We’re optimistic that this good working relationship with Waterloo Road will usher in a fresh approach to how food allergies are portrayed in television and other media. It represents a significant step forward in responsible and accurate representation.

It’s certain that increasing knowledge and empathy will significantly benefit individuals living with food allergies.

For information and support, please The Natasha Allergy Foundation.

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2025-09-30 08:35