"The Day I Almost Died " by Isabella P

     It was December 14, 2018, a Friday night, and, per usual, my grandma came over to watch us so my parents could have a date night. My brothers and I were arguing as usual on where to go for dinner. I finally suggested Chick-fil-a and off we went. When we walked in, I could see the line was quite long which gave me the time to decide I wanted the grilled chicken wrap, waffle fries, and frozen lemonade. As soon we sat down with our food I began to scarf it down. When I was about halfway through my meal when my lower lip started to feel like there was a needle in it. Though it was odd, I thought little of it.
     We decided to head over to the mall next door to walk around. I had it in my mind, I wanted to get to Sephora to check out a new highlighter from a brand I like. We parked by the Ulta and started to walk. As we passed the Lake Bryant store I started to feel an itch under my chin. I asked my brothers, “Do you see any little red dots under my chin?” My brothers told me they saw nothing and when my grandma asked if we should turn back. I told her no since I didn’t think I was in danger.
     By the time we passed Cotton On I started to sneeze. Again, my grandma asked if I was okay, to which I responded, “I will tell you when I am not.” We had just turned the corner to Johnny Rockets when I started coughing. My grandma asked if we needed to turn back and I agreed that we probably should. We were walking back when the coughing and sneezing became quite violent. As we passed  The State I called my youngest brother over to help me walk as my legs started to get weak. He came under my arm and as I started to sweat. Seeing me struggle, my grandma took the other side. The older of my two brothers walked ahead and tried to keep people out of my way if possible. When we passed the T. G. I. Fridays my throat started to close.

     I did not feel swollen, instead, it felt like the skin was stretched too tight over my neck. My brother and grandma were supporting most of my weight and I was extremely light-headed.
We made it to the car and my grandma asked me what I needed to do. I told her I was going to use my EpiPen and then we would drive to the nearest hospital. I remember her saying, “Over my dead body am I driving you to the hospital.” I pulled my EpiPen out of the pack I carry and leaned against the car. She told the older brother to call 911 as she called my parents on the car speaker. She explained what was going on and my dad told me, “Use the EpiPen as we practiced.” My grandma told them I was going to and they got off the phone to drive over to us. I opened the EpiPen and got ready to inject myself. “I’m scared,” I cried as tears started to gloss my eyes. I knew as soon as I stabbed myself a needle would go into my leg and I was terrified of doing it wrong. “I know, but you have to do this,” my grandma told me. I collected myself, ripped off the cap, and stabbed myself. 10- 9- 8- 7- 6- 5- 4- 3- 2- 1. I took the EpiPen out of my leg and reached for the cap and casing to put it back in. I leaned back against the truck and watched my brothers pull out their phone flashlights and run around to hail the ambulance. My grandma told me to sit down in the car, but I refused knowing what was coming. An EpiPen is filled with epinephrine, otherwise known as liquid adrenaline. While it will open your throat it, accelerates everything else. I began to lose my dinner all over the parking lot. I felt weak in my knees and I wanted to lie down. My grandma did not want me to choke so she sat next to me on the cold, hard ground and cradle me like a baby. I remember seeing the beautiful lights of the freeway flash by as my eyes began to roll. My body felt like it was on fire, my skin turned bright red, and I swelled like a pufferfish.

     The firefighters got there first. They came over and asked what was going on and my grandma told them the basics of the reaction and that I had injected myself. The firefighters helped me lift myself into a wheelchair. The ambulance arrived seconds later with my parents on their tail. The firefighters talked to the medics as they moved me to a gurney. Quickly, I was loaded into the ambulance and as they discussed which hospital to take me to and injected me with Benadryl. In a moment of clarity, I saw my mom with my purse and I told her “Text Alex ___ and tell him I will not be at competition tomorrow.” My mom called him to avoid mistranslation through text and with the sirens sounding he learned the basics of what was going on. The medic gave me a bag to use if I needed to barf again which I promptly used. Later my grandma told me these medics were cute, but I’m guessing I did not make a great first impression.
     The ambulance doors closed and I saw my parents run back to their car to trail the ambulance. Things people don’t tell you about ambulance rides are they are fun because they are going fast, and the lights of the cars behind you are very pretty at night. I wanted to doze off because A) the initial adrenaline rush from the EpiPen was wearing off, B) they had injected Benadryl right into my bloodstream, and C) sleeping is my coping mechanism. The last thing I remember in the ambulance was the medic in the back with me telling me, “I can’t let you go to sleep” and seeing colorful lights flashing through the window in front of me. Then, everything turned black.
     Next thing I know we are pulling into the hospital’s special entrance for ambulances and the sirens were turned off. My first thoughts were Really great job you did keeping me awake. I could have died in my sleep. They told me I was going to feel a bump as they got me out of the

ambulance. It wasn’t like I was going to fall out of the strap contraption and they had guard rails on the sides like my bed had when I was about 4. They rushed me into the hospital and took me to the restroom as I had asked since I was starting to stabilize. My mom arrived at the same time as us so they let her take me into the restroom with a little bottle for a urine sample. When we came out I climbed back onto the gurney and got wheeled into this huge room with one wall being a window so the nurses could see me. I climbed onto the bed and they made me change into the atrocious hospital gown.
     By this time I was stable so they didn’t have to do anything but observe me for hours. The physician came in to ask what had happened and if I had taken any drugs (I hadn’t). She was as confused about the situation as I was. She left to attend to other patients and I just wanted to take another nap. The nurses were so kind and turned down the lights so I could sleep. After making sure all of my affairs were in order and texting my team that I was stable, but I definitely wouldn’t be at competition tomorrow I let myself doze off. The nurse came in a couple times to check on me and I would wake up for a couple of seconds to acknowledge her or answer her questions. We left the hospital around 2 AM and the ordeal was over. I was monitored closely by my parents for all of that Saturday to make sure the attack did not come back.
     I almost died that night so I was bound to learn something from the experience. I learned not to ignore the warning signs of a reaction and that the EpiPen isn’t as scary as it seems. My parents learned to not let me eat Chick-fil-a. We suspect that Chick-fil-a changed their peanut oil distributor and it wasn’t as refined as it used to be because I had never had problems with peanut oil before, even with as allergic as I am. For background, I am off the charts in my peanut allergy

at a 99.9+ last time I was tested. There are 5 major proteins in a peanut 2 being mildly dangerous, 1 being moderately dangerous, and two being highly dangerous. I don’t react to the mild ones, but I am off the charts for moderate and highly dangerous.
     What I got out of this experience and I have learned how to joke about it. You have to have fun with the bad things in life because without it life becomes scary. For example, I think everyone has to experience the feeling of your mind dissociating from your body as you try to stand up after injecting yourself with an EpiPen at least once in their lives. Overall, this is a 10/10 adventure, but I would 10/10 not try it again.