Mom’s Severe Latex Allergy Means Balloons, Playgrounds Can Be Life-Threatening

NEED TO KNOW

• Sadie Richardson has lived with a severe latex allergy since she was 18 months old

• Her allergy has caused life-threatening reactions that required being rushed to the emergency room

• Due to potential latex exposure, only her partner can take their 7-year-old son to playgrounds and birthday parties

A U.K. mom is sharing how she navigates life with a serious allergy to latex, which means balloons, playgrounds and parks can lead to a trip to the emergency room.

“If I were to go to the park it could literally kill me,” Sadie Richardson, 30, tells Kennedy News and Media about her allergy. Latex and rubber are often used under playground equipment to prevent injuries — and sometimes in the equipment itself.

Richardson, who lives in the English borough of Reading, was diagnosed with the allergy at 18 months old. “I used to think my mum was really mean when I was little because I was like, ‘Why aren’t you letting me do this stuff other kids can.’ Now I’m a parent myself and I can’t take [my son] to parks, and parties are really difficult to navigate.”

She shares a 7-year-old, Lenny, with her partner, Rory, 31. For the most part, he handles birthday parties and playground outings. “I do feel like a bit of a burden to my other half because no one really enjoys a child’s party,” says Richardson. “He’s willing to take him but I do feel a bit bad that it all falls on him.”

Since Lenny was born, Richardson has had two severe reactions that required her to use an EpiPen and rush to the hospital. In 2019, she accidentally touched a door mat while shopping, and in 2021, she picked up her son after he fell in the park.

“When I had my allergic reaction from the doormat my son was seven months old and I was just crying like ‘My son’s not going to have a mum.’ I was just devastated. That’s what’s scary now,” she said. Although she tries to avoid going to playgrounds, she explained that when her son fell, “I just instinctively grabbed him off of my partner and because he’d fallen onto the rubber floor I had a reaction.”

Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.

Richardson shares that her allergy has caused “a lot of anxiety since becoming a mum. I like to go everywhere with my other half because I feel safer if I were to have a reaction, especially if we’ve got our son there as well. One of my biggest fears is that I have a reaction in a public place and I have to put my trust into a stranger while I’m being seen to.”

“It’s more since becoming a parent and knowing I have somebody that depends on me [that] has triggered my anxiety with it more,” she explained. Still, despite her fears, Richardson says she’s learning to speak up more about her allergy, especially since, at times, it puts her in “embarrassing” situations: “You’re trying to run away from a child that’s coming near you without looking too silly because you’re trying to avoid a balloon.”

“You can be in situations where kids do have balloons and adults’ first thought isn’t ‘Is somebody allergic to that,’ ” she said. “I spent a lot of my life finding my allergy quite embarrassing and I didn’t want to disclose it.”

But as she’s learned, “a little bit of embarrassment’s more important than potentially getting yourself into a fatal situation. Choose yourself over being embarrassed.”

Read the original article on People