Remembering Allison Rose & Saving Lives in Her Honor

In this special Food Allergy Awareness Week episode, we sit down with Chief Mike and Becca Suhy, the founders of the Allison Rose Foundation. Their vibrant, fun-loving, caring, and slightly mischievous daughter Allison's life was tragically cut short by anaphylaxis during her first semester at college. Through their heartbreak, the Suhys have created the foundation as a way to continue caring for Allison—working tirelessly to ensure no other family experiences the same unimaginable loss.

The Allison Rose Foundation is dedicated to preventing food allergy deaths through education, advocacy, and access to epinephrine. You’ll hear about the incredible impact they’re making, including:

• Creating life-saving food allergy and anaphylaxis curriculum for students of all ages
• Partnering with first responders to provide epinephrine training in schools, restaurants, and communities
• Supplying stock epinephrine free of charge to schools and organizations ready to take action

Their story is one of grief transformed into service—a call to all of us to learn, act, and help build a world where children with food allergies are safer, more supported, and never forgotten.

Tune in to honor Allison’s legacy and be inspired to take action, because Food Allergy Awareness isn't just about celebration and education, it's about saving lives. 

Home - Allison Rose Foundation
@allisonrosefoundation

Special thanks to Kyle Dine for permission to use his song The Doghouse for the podcast theme!
www.kyledine.com

Find Dr. Whitehouse:
-thefoodallergypsychologist.com
-Instagram: @thefoodallergypsychologist
-Facebook: Dr. Amanda Whitehouse, Food Allergy Anxiety Psychologist
-welcome@dramandawhitehouse.com

Transcript

Mike and Becca Suhy: 0:00

Your first daughter being born is always something special. But she was a cheerleader. She was in the school plays. She worked at autism camp. She really wanted to help people. She was mischievous. Allison in addition to wanting to help people and go into early childhood education, she also had a cosmetology license. So she would, be their glam and, do all those things. So she was a go-to for everybody in some way, shape or form. But she did like to have a lot of fun too, which, which made her just so wonderful to be around. we felt compelled to still be able to do for Allison and still be able to take care of her in some way, shape or form. Yes, we wanted her memory to live on. We wanted to make sure that we did that for her brother and her sister, but also for us too. T his way we could still take care of Allison in a way that was obviously different, but she would be on top of our mind all the time.

Speaker: 0:58

Welcome to the Don't Feed the Fear podcast, where we dive into the complex world of food allergy anxiety. I'm your host, Dr. Amanda Whitehouse, food allergy anxiety psychologist and food allergy mom. Whether you're dealing with allergies yourself or supporting someone who is, join us for an empathetic and informative journey toward food allergy calm and confidence..

Dr. Amanda Whitehouse: 1:20

I wanted to do something special for Food Allergy Awareness Week, and this episode couldn't have turned out more beautiful. I have the profound honor of sitting down with two parents whose courage and love have transformed their unimaginable loss into powerful action that's really making a difference in the world, protecting people, and saving lives. After their daughter Allison died due to an anaphylactic reaction, Chief Suhy and Rebecca Suhy created the Allison Rose Foundation in her honor that keeps her memory alive and advocates tirelessly to prevent other food allergy families from enduring the same heartache. And this conversation really fits in well with the theme for the spring season, which is the things that we don't wanna talk about. And while it's wonderful to celebrate food allergy awareness this month, and particularly this week, while it's so important t o honor and cheer on and celebrate all of the accomplishments and the wins, the changes, the progress, the new treatments, the legal advocacy that's happening, and changing things and protecting us more, t he thing that we don't want to talk about is that underneath it all, there's always the fear and the small risk, but the real risk of death from anaphylaxis. We all support these families from afar who have spoken up about their children's deaths, as well as the families who don't speak up about it, and we hear about it in the news and maybe they don't create a foundation, but we hold them in our hearts and we ache for them and then we tuck it away and we wanna move through life without that reality in front of us. It can be detrimental if we don't remember and acknowledge outright to ourselves that deep down, that's what the anxiety and the fear that we experience around our food allergies is about. So I think that to talk about it directly can be very healing. To support the people who have been through it, to join them in their causes can be encouraging and give us a chance to express our gratitude for them because we are safer thanks to their story and the hard work that they have done. So in this episode with Chief and Becca Suhy, we talk about grief, legacy, their love for their daughter Allison Rose, and how advocacy can be a lifeline and a living tribute. Thank you so much, Becca and Mike Suhy for joining me here, or Chief Suhy as you're known on behalf of your daughter, Allison, and on behalf of the Allison Rose Foundation. I wanted to do this episode for Food Allergy Awareness Week to remind people of why we are all working hard and advocating and trying to protect everyone and make everyone safer. So I'm so honored that you decided to come and share your story.

Mike and Becca Suhy: 3:46

Oh, well thank you for having us. It's, it's our honor really.

Dr. Amanda Whitehouse: 3:49

Would you mind starting by telling us about your daughter, Allison?

Mike and Becca Suhy: 3:53

so Allison's our oldest of three. She was diagnosed with her food allergy as a toddler when she was diagnosed. It was a pediatrician who diagnosed her'cause allergists just weren't as prevalent as they are now. And she diagnosed her, and gave us an action plan to obviously avoid the peanuts. We're gonna use Benadryl if needed, and then wait and see and use epi. This plan worked for us. Allison ingested peanuts a few times. We'd give her Benadryl, she'd be okay. She never had that severe anaphylactic reaction. Graduated high school, went off to Ohio University to study early childhood education. While at college, it was really the happiest we ever saw her. Um, It was just, it was, it was a great time for her. I went down for dad's weekend, November that year and got to see in person why she truly loved it. Spent Friday with her, spent Saturday with her, got to meet her friends, her sorority sisters. Got to see why she truly loved it in southern Ohio in Athens, and said goodbye to her Saturday night, that was the last time I was with her. Got a call from one of her friends, Mr. Suhy. Allison's having an allergic reaction. Food allergy, parent, firefighter, paramedic. Not a big deal. Give her some Benadryl. We'll be good. Heard some commotion. Amongst that commotion, I heard someone say something about CPR. At that moment, my life, my family's life was forever changed. Met her at the med center down there. She was brought in by paramedics. We made the decision to get her north, which is about hour drive, but they took her via helicopter to Columbus to a bigger facility to get her more treatments. But unfortunately, a lack of oxygen she sustained during a reaction. She lost her life. And we knew that day driving home, that two hour drive home that we wanted to do something to honor her and prevent this from happening, so we launched the foundation about a year later.

Dr. Amanda Whitehouse: 5:36

It is pretty quick to jump into action. I mean, that grieving process, I, I can't imagine. I don't know how you feel, b ut I've watched my parents go through it. I lost a sibling, and to see parents have to face that seems just insurmountable. Do you mind talking about that piece of things?

Mike and Becca Suhy: 5:50

I think that our thought process in that was that we felt compelled to still be able to do for Allison and still be able to take care of her in some way, shape or form. We wanted her, yes, we wanted her memory to live on. We wanted to make sure that we did that for her brother and her sister, but also for us too, T was that his way we could still take care of Allison in a way that was obviously different, but she would be on top of our mind all the time. And that grieving process, it doesn't end. Like we're not, we're not done grieving her. It'll probably go on forever. But this, I think it's a way for me, I can say, and I think back as well, helps us go through that process. Mm-hmm. different. Yeah, everybody's different. This is our way of doing it. Yeah. We found this com to be comforting to us as we move forward,'cause that's what we had to do.

Dr. Amanda Whitehouse: 6:45

Right, There's no right or wrong way to do it, but in your scenario and for your individual child, what felt right I think is beautiful. It's a beautiful way to honor and keep her alive.

Mike and Becca Suhy: 6:55

Yes, thank you.

Dr. Amanda Whitehouse: 6:56

I've seen you call her Ally. Is is that something you say often or not? My sister's name is Allie, so I'm afraid that's gonna come out, but if you don't want me to call her that, I won't do it.

Mike and Becca Suhy: 7:05

she in trouble or not? We learned that Allison gave herself the nickname Ally. Yes. During one open house in school. So she. She created her Ally nickname, so all of her friends call her Ally. Most of her family members call her Allison for the most part. But it varies and it varies in our conversations, even amongst her brother and sister. Yeah, sometimes she's Allison. Sometimes she's Ally. But, um, amongst her friend group, she was Ally.

Dr. Amanda Whitehouse: 7:34

Will you give us a little bit more of an idea of who she is and what she was like? I mean, she sounds like just such a beautiful person from what I've heard and read.

Mike and Becca Suhy: 7:42

I mean, she was the oldest, which made her, you know, especially your first daughter being born is always something special. But she was a cheerleader. She was in the school plays. She worked at autism camp. She really wanted to help people. She was mischievous. I would say the apple didn't fall far from the tree when people know me, but she was, she was a good person. I mean, she, and she really was coming into her own at OU like yeah, she, we really seeing her become, I. the short, you know, the short time that she was at OU, Ohio University, which was just three months, the friendships that she made in that short period of time speaks volumes about her character. Each year the Allison Rose Foundation hosts an annual fundraising event a nd two of those friends that she made at Ohio University not only come to the event, but they work the event, they volunteer, they're the first, their families come. They're, yes, they're first, first in line to help out, and it, it never, never stopped. So I think that, again, people she knew three months. Three months, yeah. I mean, even when, you know, just. Understanding what her life was like in college. Those three months, she was like the mom of the floor. Allison also, in addition to wanting to help people and go into early childhood education, she also had a cosmetology license. So she would, you know, be their glam and, you know, do all those things. So she was a go-to for everybody in some way, shape or form. But to Mike's point, she did like to have a lot of fun too, which, which made her just so wonderful to be around.

Dr. Amanda Whitehouse: 9:16

Yeah. I'm so glad that you got that opportunity to see her having that fun and you know that she got that experience. I'm sure you feel the same way about getting to go there, even for three short months, t he way that that opened the world to her for a bit of time. It didn't take her long to impact the people there either, it sounds like.

Mike and Becca Suhy: 9:33

No,

Dr. Amanda Whitehouse: 9:34

Yeah.

Mike and Becca Suhy: 9:35

Not at all. And that we say that every year when we have these fundraising events and see these two, these two young women, especially now even she passed away in 2017, so it's almost eight years and these young women still continue to show up for Allison and that, and keep in contact with us, like mm-hmm. Throughout the year. Yeah. Just, you know, seeing where they're going with life and, you know, says a lot about everybody. Yeah. And we're very proud

Dr. Amanda Whitehouse: 10:00

Yeah.

Mike and Becca Suhy: 10:00

she chose to become friends with us. Mm-hmm.

Dr. Amanda Whitehouse: 10:03

Well, and I would say you as parents too, because it, it takes a great and well raised and very loved child t o become a person like that.

Mike and Becca Suhy: 10:11

Yeah. Thank you. Thank you. She was a good girl.

Dr. Amanda Whitehouse: 10:14

Yeah. Do you wanna say how you then created the idea for what the foundation would look like considering what kind of person she was?

Mike and Becca Suhy: 10:22

Yeah, I mean, yellow's her favorite color, so you see a lot of yellow with our event and our stuff and our, you know, everything we put out there. But I mean, Becca kind of said it earlier, we didn't want this to happen to another family, like what we went through. The goal was let's try to prevent that from happening. Where we felt we as parents lacked in education and her probably and her, was the fact that this was the first group of food allergy, you know? That big group of, like that big group of young that were diagnosed, people that were diagnosed with food allergies. So it was still new. So now they've graduated high school. In Allison's case she graduated with 70, 80 kids. So a small community who knew about her allergy, who knew how to be a support system when she went to birthday parties as a young girl, you know. knew to look out for her. They knew we had to check food labels, all that stuff. But then once you transition to independence, that whole new support system and that bubble changes. So where we felt was there was a lack of education in terms of. Where those that don't live with food allergies aren't as educated and understand to recognize signs and symptoms of anaphylaxis and what to do in case of an anaphylactic emergency. We knew that education, needed to be instilled somewhere somehow.

Dr. Amanda Whitehouse: 11:48

So my, my child with food allergies is, younger than Allison. But I look back and think, oh gosh, if only we had known those LEAP results and we had known that early introduction of foods is something that prevents it, you know, it's, it's that. weight that we carry of what we didn't know that we know now, but you just, you weren't given the information, the advocacy and the education didn't exist for your, cohort of parents.

Mike and Becca Suhy: 12:09

changed. Yes, science is, I mean, food allergies, just since we've been doing this, it is and bounds. It is information out there, what people are learning, what we can do, what we shouldn't do. All that stuff has changed. And even in my profession, you know, when I became a paramedic, it was give Benadryl on an anaphylactic call. We gave Benadryl an epi. that has obviously since changed for people with food allergies. And even as a first responder, that is, it just has changed. Science has changed. And you still hear that though. You know, we talk to a lot of families who their go-to remains to be Benadryl or an antihistamine that, well, they think their allergies aren't bad either. Yeah. So, and Allison would've told you either should told you. Oh.

Dr. Amanda Whitehouse: 12:50

Right, because they weren't historically, which I think is a great point that you make. That's one of the misconceptions is that if she had had mild reactions in the past, Benadryl always took care of the issue, that there wasn't a concern. But obviously that wasn't the case.

Mike and Becca Suhy: 13:02

Yeah. Right. You don't know when that bad reaction is. And when, every time I train I say, you know, my family learned the hardest way possible that no two reactions are the same. And we, when we teach, we talk about people in that teens to twenties, how their immune system so good. Which is awesome, but when you have an allergen, the allergens introduced, that makes the reactions more severe, which that's why you see these fatalities in that age range, and it's so important to educate those people and the people that are around those people and everybody. Yeah. Which circles back to kind of our strategy around how we would launch the foundation and what we would do. We thought it would be high school seniors, and then we learned kids become independent even sooner. And as a

Dr. Amanda Whitehouse: 13:45

Mm-hmm.

Mike and Becca Suhy: 13:45

go in and do a lot of CPR training in schools. And I was sitting in school being like, this is awesome. But now a lot of these kids are gonna have a cardiac going to cardiac arrest in school, but one in 13 of'em have a food allergy. we pivoted to make this curriculum into health class, which falls into eighth to 10th grade range, depending on the school system. And that's where kids really become independent. They don't want mom and dad around anymore. You know, they're playing travel sports, going into clubs, doing things where they don't want mom and dad hovering, asking the question. So educating those people and training'em and those without it around them, it became our mission and it really is, it saved lives.

Dr. Amanda Whitehouse: 14:27

So what does it actually look like?

Mike and Becca Suhy: 14:28

So we have something for third grade level high school students, school staff. And then non-school entities, restaurants, businesses, and universities as well. But I think our biggest area that we educate and train in is high school students. So we'll come in usually twice a year'cause health is first and second semester before coming in. All kids take what we call the Allison Rose Challenge, so they're all assigned to food allergy and they live with it for, we let the teacher decide three to five days so they understand what their peers are going through. And we have a canned video we share so they all see the same message that way mom and dad, they can send the video home to see the message too, but it's so they understand what that's like and it creates a lot of good dialogue when we get to that section of our education about, you know, did you go out, did you ask questions? How to read a food label? Where, where did you find it? Listed egg in there. All these things. And that's just one part of it. But we go over why we're there signs and symptoms? What is anaphylaxis? How to use autoinjectors or EPI devices. Allergy versus intolerance. Yep. Um, and empowerment, yes. Is a big part of, we talk a lot about that, our class and not being a choice. Um, you know, everybody wants to go out to eat. Everybody wants to trick or treat. How are we gonna make it so everybody can be included, involved, you know, and just that understanding and opening up that. That dialogue about when I have a reaction, here's my symptoms and this is what my autoinjector looks like or my device looks like. So, you know, it just makes it safer for everybody. And you can apply that to, you could apply it to asthma or diabe. We just choose food allergies.

Dr. Amanda Whitehouse: 16:06

Well, and that's such a brilliant way to approach it. I've read about the education that you're doing, but I didn't realize you were having kids actually do that experience. It reminds me of, you know, when they give middle school and high school kids the fake baby and they have to keep the baby alive.

Mike and Becca Suhy: 16:19

Dr. Sandra Hong, who's a part of our medical advisory board came to us with the idea. S he prefaced it with, it's not a great idea, but, and we're like, oh my God, that's a brilliant idea. It's just, it's a cool, it's a cool experiment they get to do. Our own son'cause we're where he goes to school, did it. And he lived with it and had to take it and he obviously understood. But it, it changes your life a little bit. It really does.

Dr. Amanda Whitehouse: 16:44

Well, and even for him, it's one thing to know, and this is my sister and this is how our family deals with it. To put yourself in the mindset of if it were me, I, I think still, even for someone who knows, that would be a useful, uh, experience. I.

Mike and Becca Suhy: 16:58

Absolutely. Yeah. It's, really cool.

Dr. Amanda Whitehouse: 17:00

So you're in the Cleveland area. Do you know how many school districts is this happening in? Or do you have an estimate of how many kids you've reached with that program?

Mike and Becca Suhy: 17:07

Uh, over 10,000 students. Yeah. Um, we've, we're in probably over a hundred school districts. We're in four states. Um, probably about two to 3000 restaurant staff trained. I don't know how many school staff, and I just said this in a talk. I didn't, I can't remember the exact numbers. It's a lot. It, it's a lot. We're in North Carolina, Texas, Kentucky, and Ohio. And we'll go anywhere. Free. We always forget to say that part. Yeah. Everything we do is free. We train,. We'll give stock epi. We will g ive'em a storage box to put it in everything just so it's, so there's no excuse not to do it. So one of the biggest things is that when we look to kind of strategize on who we should tap to be instructors, because you know, Mike and I, we have, this is just our side hustle. This is our passion project. This is not what we do full time. So we we're like, you know, we wanna be somebody that was credible, people that students would respect. And we realized that those people were right in our backyard and a part of our family. So all of our instructors are first responders, medical professionals, firefighters, paramedics. And we're really proud of that because not only did that community support us in such a large way when we went through our loss of Allison, but we can just showcase the tremendous abilities that these first responders have and can, give back to students and the community. And there's that relationship with schools that fire departments have already so. You know, to go into their local school. It's kind of cool. It's another reason to be there. It's great PR it's just, we all have our experiences and stories with anaphylaxis so we all can talk on it. It really brings that real life here's what we've seen, but also here's what we expect when it happens from you. Not just giving someone epi but waiting at the door. You know what we're saying over 9 1 1. Just reviewing all that whole scenario from accident happening to getting'em to the hospital, and it's just been so well received.

Dr. Amanda Whitehouse: 19:08

Yeah, I think that's so important. I just did an episode with a friend of mine who's a paramedic because I thought in my own experience, that's something that I didn't know. Like, leave the front door open. Tell us what the front of the house looks like so we can find you. All of those things that you don't know until you've experienced it. So I love that you're spreading the word about so many aspects of it, the practical and the specific, to allergies and covering all bases.

Mike and Becca Suhy: 19:30

Yeah, well we talk about it'cause like when it happens in a school or especially university. Everybody's gonna have to jump to that patient, like give'em some room. But everyone has a job To navigate a college campus is difficult. So wait for us at the corner and let us know how best, because it's all about time sensitive. How best can we get to them quickest and get the medication and stuff to them? So it's, it kind of lets everyone know that even though you may not wanna help someone with their epi device, you can be part of helping them.

Dr. Amanda Whitehouse: 20:00

Do you find that a lot that people are hesitant to use the epinephrine devices?

Mike and Becca Suhy: 20:05

We haven't had it. I, we hear stories about it, but like the epi that we provide, stock epi, we hear more good stories than it not being used. Yeah. I think that innately, and correct me if I'm wrong, I think that it's can be a very intimidating. It shouldn't be, but it can be. Perceived. Needles are scary. Needles are scary that you know, however, devices, you know, especially the autoinjector devices are very simple to use. They don't hurt as badly as one. You're helping someone you are anticipating and you're gonna save a life if you use it. We had a restaurant we were at, we did training at, we gave'em stock epi. We've been there twice. They've had it now for two years, and we went there for dinner. And the manager said she, she used it, she used our device on somebody and she's like, I was, you know, I was a little scared at first my adrenal was going, but she didn't hesitate. She did it. The person came back a few weeks later, thanked them for saving her life. It was, you know, it was just, so we get more of those, we get we emails throughout the year about, you know, I'm glad we had this because we're able to use your device and you know, the outcome's good. So that's all we care about. Mm-hmm.

Dr. Amanda Whitehouse: 21:20

Yeah. I think that community effort is a big part of shifting that misconception that people have that, not just the needles, but that epinephrine itself is dangerous when really it's so effective. Right? It's pretty universal. It can't hurt you if the person ended up not to need it. Doctors will say it really wasn't dangerous at all, but people don't see it that way as as a community effort. We can have this in our restaurant just in case because food allergies can happen at any time.

Mike and Becca Suhy: 21:43

Well, and people forget it. Or there's, you know, I always tell people when we go do training, especially in restaurants, like you're gonna try to provide everything as best you can for the patient, but cross contact can happen. Maybe someone switched their plate at the table or got up and sat down differently, their accidents that happen. I'm, I'm unemployed if accidents don't happen, so let's prepare you. If they do, just like we know how to do the Heimlich and CPR and how to use a fire extinguisher, we're gonna teach you how to help somebody if they have an anaphylactic reaction.

Dr. Amanda Whitehouse: 22:12

Absolutely. You know, we try to teach kids to advocate, but like you said, especially within this age range where there's so much going on and things are sticky, and it might be their first time on a date or their first time out with friends,

Mike and Becca Suhy: 22:22

They don't wanna make things difficult, you know, but that's the advocacy we talk about when we do our education and training. Like advocate for each other, like mm-hmm. Speak up. It's, we had a situation, we were at an ice cream shop and the grandma was with her granddaughter and she was doing such a good job. Can you change the scooper? What's in the, and it was awesome. So we asked and she said, oh, she has a peanut allergy. Well, grandma had peanuts all over hers, and we talked about if you give your granddaughter a kiss, that's the way cross contact can happen. Ice cream shop did everything great, but it's not just about that. There's so many ways that we can prepare you to be safer.

Dr. Amanda Whitehouse: 22:57

Right. I think that's another, piece. Maybe you can, say if you've seen that in your efforts to educate, older generations in terms of US families getting people on board and fully understanding it is another barrier that there's still some work to do. Would you agree? I.

Mike and Becca Suhy: 23:11

A thousand percent. I mean, I recall, you know, as Allison was growing up, our grandparents, not that they were dismissive, but. just was not a part of their generation. So it was a little bit harder for them to understand that there truly is a severity and Well,'cause we didn't grow up with it really. Right. They didn't. They're the throw dirt on it, you're fine. Like, which is true most of the time, but they just now it's so prevalent. Like when we go to schools now, I feel like the kids are like the younger, the kid happy to raise their hand about, yep, I have an allergy. It's, it's not, you know, we talk, it doesn't define you. You're who you are, you're not. the peanut person, you're Allison, the the cheerleader, the wannabe school teacher, all that stuff. So I think the younger generation is definitely better, but there is that generation who just don't, they don't know what they don't know. Mm-hmm.

Dr. Amanda Whitehouse: 24:02

Yeah, and you, you make a good point to switch gears a little, but I've heard you talk about Allison in that way, that she, there just was so much more to her and that she was really adamant about that, not defining her. Would you say more about that? I think it's important.

Mike and Becca Suhy: 24:14

Well, and that's something we. train and tr educate at the third grade level. We have books that we partnered with two young authors, JJ and Ria, who wrote these empowerment books, the Land of Can, all the things you can do, not, can't do. So we, we give those to schools for free as well. Digital and hard copy versions because what we read them in the book about food allergy and we give'em a whole bunch food allergies. One obviously is the same stuff we teach to the high school kids. Just in a fun book, just in a third grade way. Yes. Which we could probably read those to the high school kids and have the same effect and the college kids, but it's,

Dr. Amanda Whitehouse: 24:53

Yeah, and the.

Mike and Becca Suhy: 24:55

yes. It's, it's, it's, it's, it's about not defining you and the book really. I mean, the first book is about not just, it's about, and nothing defining you like you're who you are. celebrate that. Not what you can't do, but what you can do.

Dr. Amanda Whitehouse: 25:10

Absolutely. it's really important. For the young kids and for the adults to hear that in terms of the food allergy individuals to see it that way. But for other people to be reminded, because you know, with kids going through school, people meaning well and trying to take good care of them, and it's like, oh, that's the peanut allergy kid. That's the, that's the milk allergy girl. And, and pegging them in that way. So is, I haven't read the book yet, but I've heard about it. Is that kind of the idea that it gets at.

Mike and Becca Suhy: 25:34

is. And we actually met somebody at a conference who did that. They were going through their orientation for high school. Group of'em are going around and they said, Hey, we're going in the cafeteria. They only have an allergy. And the kid raised his hand, I don't remember what his allergy was. Teacher's like, well, you can't go in the cafeteria. poor kid now is, you know, here he is labeled now and. Not part of the orientation.'cause the teacher was doing right in their mind, protecting them. But really they had a little more education and training, would've said, okay, you brought your lunch, you're good. We're we're okay. Yeah. And we really stress the importance of inclusivity because no matter, I don't care how old you are, if you're five or if you're 50, nobody wants to be excluded. And nobody wants to feel different. different doesn't mean bad all the time by any means, but it's that idea of inclusivity and making sure that everybody can live the same life as anybody else and experience the same things as anybody else, whether going to that cafeteria, going out to dinner, going to college, our Halloween campaign, right? Going trick or treating. You know, we started a Halloween advocacy campaign right when we launched the foundation that was all about allergen friendly candy. There are great initiatives out there that have nothing to do with candy, so that those that can't eat certain candy can still experience trick or treating. Our focus was allergen Free Candy and partnering with Spokin, um, which is the organization that produces an allergen friendly candy list each year to just let people know what candy they could eat. So we created yard signs that just said, No trick, just treats allergen friendly, candy here. Again, we talk about transitioning to independence and the fact that it can start as young as trick-or-treating little kids trick or treating. They don't want their parents holding their hand going up to the door. parents are probably concerned that they will be given a candy that they're allergic to. So we would do it. We'd divvy up the candy. Like Allison, here's four things. You get your brother and sister get 200 pieces'cause you can't. So, but this gives us an opportunity for them to walk up to the door themselves, the parent feeling comfortable that what they're going to get is free of the top nine allergens. And hopefully it. Produces a little bit more security and also happiness. Well, everybody wants candy, rot your teeth. That's the day to do it. But let's make sure everybody can do it. And they get to, like you said, come to the door with their friends.'cause parents see the sign and we tell people, you can hand out other candy. Just have two bowls be smart and be like, okay, you get the allergen free candy you don't like, there's different ways you can do it to make sure everybody's involved and included. That's kind of the the message, the message we really strive to the kids.

Dr. Amanda Whitehouse: 28:21

I love that. Halloween that's really one of the big ones for kids. Other events, it's like, let's shift it a little bit. We don't have to make it all about food, but Halloween literally is about candy.

Mike and Becca Suhy: 28:30

Donuts for dads was a big one at our school. And I'm like, why do we have to have donuts? I don't need'em. don't. We could just come to school with our kid for that day for the morning and walk him and see things No one needs because.

Dr. Amanda Whitehouse: 28:40

yeah.

Mike and Becca Suhy: 28:41

They'd have these other donuts that were allergy friendly. Well, they didn't look as good as the ones with sprinkles and everything else on it. So why we, don't need to sugar anybody up. You're right. The food becomes such a big part of it, which is great at times, but there's times where you don't have to put that in that situation. Mm-hmm.

Dr. Amanda Whitehouse: 28:57

Right. I don't think people who don't live with food allergies understand or recognize how much food is a central part of so many aspects of socialization and relationships and. You know, education?

Mike and Becca Suhy: 29:09

Birthday. Every birthday party has a birthday cake.

Dr. Amanda Whitehouse: 29:12

Mm-hmm.

Mike and Becca Suhy: 29:12

had ask, can we see

Dr. Amanda Whitehouse: 29:13

Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Yeah. No kid wants to have a different dessert. Even like you said, they never look as good, but even if they do, like I would try to make my kids special cupcake, just like make everybody jealous, but they want to be included. It's not about having something better. They wanna be a part.. Right.

Mike and Becca Suhy: 29:30

Exactly. That's everybody wants, and that's what we try to, we really talk about that in our education. Mm-hmm.

Dr. Amanda Whitehouse: 29:35

Yeah, you mentioned several times this important thing of how independence happens gradually along the way, starting very young, but there are now, there weren't for Allison, but there are now so many resources targeted toward young kids and parents with younger kids. I think there is a gap in that older age range. As far as doing what you are doing, and I, I know you're trying to fill that. What do teens and young adults still need as they are transitioning into that independent stage of their lives?

Mike and Becca Suhy: 30:07

I think it's a lot of it is, know, educating those around them and asking questions and talking about it, and being confident enough to advocate for themselves in a way that makes them most comfortable. For example, going off to college, you're navigating somewhat of a whole new identity when you go off to college and wanting to. Again, fit in, be a part like we talked about. And I think really just educating and it doesn't have to be super formal, it's just, hey roommate, you know, just so you know. But it goes both ways. Like yeah, if I don't have any allergies, I can ask you as my new friend, Hey, do you have it? Well, I took this class in health class in high school and we learned about it. I just wanna make sure we've had people that told us they've done that. We did. And we, when we go to colleges, we try to train the RAs. So in August we'll train them and then we give'em like a one pager. So when you have your floor meeting, you can just bring it up. You don't have to educate and you know, beat it up over their head. But just, yeah, I said for a lot of reasons it makes'em more comfortable. No, who on the floor has an epi device? So God forbid something happens, you can go use it. All these different things to make it safer. But it starts the conversation. But I think talking to the non-food allergy people about extending that olive branch mm-hmm. To talk about it is just. more important and you know, asking the questions, what type of device, as we train them, they learn that, that we hear those stories, that they do that and that helps that, age group and that's not limited to just food allergies. No, there are many other situations. I say it all the time, we could take this and make it into anything. What we're training, it's just we're choosing food allergies. It's how to be a good person.

Dr. Amanda Whitehouse: 31:42

Yeah. And I think a key part of what you're doing, it's not one big thing where they're gonna educate kids all about food allergies. It's starting young, it's repeated conversations, making it so normalized and just so validating that they've been hearing this throughout their lives. Seeds planted that grow over time, right.

Mike and Becca Suhy: 31:59

Well, and you said it right there. I mean, our intention and our hope and our goal one day is this will be mainstreamed within classroom settings way, shape, or form. But just like Mike said earlier, just like the Heimlich maneuver, just like CPR, just like learning about a fire extinguisher, um, that's really important that it's mainstreamed because it's just as important, if not more for those that do not have a direct connection or live with a food allergy to understand this than it is for those that do, and to graduate high school, you have to have CPR. Well, you should have to have this, in my opinion, so that's a goal.

Dr. Amanda Whitehouse: 32:34

I agree. Both in the understanding and and support, realm and also in the availability of the epinephrine. We were in the bathroom at Target the other day. The new Epinephrine device Neffy. It's the same delivery device as Narcan. So we saw a picture of it, it's stock on the bathroom wall at, at Target, and he was confused. So we talked about it and of course he found it interesting that, it's being used for multiple purposes, but he didn't realize that Narcan is available places and that that places stock it. he said to me the, exact same thing that we all wonder, why isn't it everywhere? If it's, if they can put Narcan on the wall, why can't there be epinephrine in the store too?

Mike and Becca Suhy: 33:10

That is a goal that's up there for us to figure out because when we go to college campuses, the first one we ever went to, I remember these kids were so like adamant into it. I hope that product can help make it more accessible to do that, but time will tell.

Dr. Amanda Whitehouse: 33:26

And any, any form of epinephrine for an emergency is right.

Mike and Becca Suhy: 33:30

Yes, I agree.

Dr. Amanda Whitehouse: 33:32

And I think as you've mentioned several times about, you know, calling it epinephrine and making sure people know what's what device do you use? Because I think a lot of kids grew up, everyone says EpiPen, like everyone says Kleenex, but we don't want confusion. Like, oh, maybe that's not epinephrine. It looks different, right?

Mike and Becca Suhy: 33:47

Or is it the wrong dose or is it No. When we train, we show'em, here's anQ, here's an EpiPen.

Dr. Amanda Whitehouse: 33:52

Yeah.

Mike and Becca Suhy: 33:53

Look different, do the same thing. Now you can try them. Like people

Dr. Amanda Whitehouse: 33:56

Yeah.

Mike and Becca Suhy: 33:56

hands on'em is so important.'cause you can do it, but then to actually do it and know how hard you have to push and all that stuff, it really is. Mm-hmm. It it, because it's time sensitive, it saves lives.

Dr. Amanda Whitehouse: 34:08

That muscle memory makes a huge difference in overcoming the adrenaline and that and that reaction in an emergency, right? If you've actually done that motion before.

Mike and Becca Suhy: 34:16

You just know Yes. All of that, like all the stuff we teach comes right into play and they know that it's the right medication, right dose, right time.

Dr. Amanda Whitehouse: 34:23

You mentioned that's one of your big goals for the future. Is there a next step? Is there a new, piece that you're hoping to expand into next?

Mike and Becca Suhy: 34:30

We are, we, we passed, uh, legislation in 2021. I. We are looking to update that now because of the Nefi device not being an auto-injector to change it to FDA approved devices and our, because right now it reads auto-injector, so there's some hiccups with getting it out there with that. And we, we don't have one device that we're, you know, working with more than the other. I just want people to have options so there's no excuses not to have it. Our legislation was for schools, we're looking to expand it into non-school entities. Non-entities. Yeah. To not mandate it.'cause we'll have a hard time passing it, but encouraging it when people know there's law behind you, they become more open to us coming in and doing it. Yeah. We've had to educate on that too, especially in the restaurant setting as it relates to, you know, our stock epi offering in that. You know, restaurant managers are, we're gonna get sued. Yeah. We're very concerned about liability and we're very because they've had some issues. But we're very lucky in the state of Ohio, as are many other states that have the Good Samaritan law and Epinephrine is covered under this Good Samaritan law. So there is no concern for liability. And that's important because we do have to train them on that even before we can come into the restaurant. We do, yeah. And then we talk about it in our training, but. In order to get in. Um, but you know, in looking to expand as well, that's other big avenue of ours is the non-school entity. Restaurants especially. Um, we're very proud of the fact that we can offer the training and grants stock, epinephrine, and restaurants. It's been for free, all for free. Um. It's been a game changer in the restaurants that we've served. Like Mike mentioned earlier, we've heard stories where the devices have been used in emergency situations. Probably a handful of'em in the past few years since we started this initiative, and that's. something to be proud of, not something to, you know, be upset or scared about because if they didn't have it, then you should be upset and scared. But the fact that they do, it speaks volumes about how these restaurants feel about protecting their customers and making sure that they're doing everything possible to keep their patrons safe. So, it makes it safer for those people with food allergies that are afraid to go out to dinner. it. gives them a little sense of comfort and knowing that someone understands and that why they're asking the questions and God forbid you forgot yours. They have it there, all these things and it just makes it a better experience. But there's goals of airports, um, arena stadiums.'cause I always say if you're in the upper deck at the arena, at a game or concert and something happens. As a medic. By the time you get to me on the ground where the ambulance is, you better have had epi or it's we're in, we have a whole different on our hands. So it's like those kind of things. One of our goals was on a college campus was, yes, we want to train the food services and the RAs. We know having now Allison been in college and our other daughter going through after about, we'll say two, three months, they're not eating the cafeteria. They're going to Joe's, burger Shack and whatever else is on Main Street. I want those places trained too. And I, we have a sticker that we put in the window of anywhere we train that says, this establishment's been trained and equip with stock copy. So if you're touring campus or looking to buy a house in a neighborhood and you see these stickers around, you're gonna, especially college if I'm gonna pay. Somewhere that has this or doesn't, and they're the same school I'm going to the one who has this.

Dr. Amanda Whitehouse: 38:07

Mm-hmm.

Mike and Becca Suhy: 38:08

off campus eating probably more than they're on at a certain point in their college time. So have those places trained as another goal off campus to make sure that. You know, it'd be great to train the arena or the stadium, but the restaurants around it need it too, because people are eating before it's mm-hmm. All of that. It, it never ends. It's exactly, it's, but just like all those places have probably an AED hanging on the wall or a fire extinguisher to make it safe. This should be there as well.

Dr. Amanda Whitehouse: 38:36

Absolutely. Would you talk a little bit as we wrap up, just what it feels like and is there a connection that you maintain with Allison through the work you're doing and, and keeping her, memory alive and keeping her love alive through your work? I.

Mike and Becca Suhy: 38:49

There are unique connections. I was just in San Diego speaking at a conference, and the guy who picked me up from the airport was from Athens where Ohio University is. I'm like, what are the odds of I'm in California?

Dr. Amanda Whitehouse: 39:03

Mm-hmm.

Mike and Becca Suhy: 39:04

is from where she went to school. So it's little things like that I think it reminds us that she's still here with us.

Dr. Amanda Whitehouse: 39:10

What do you think she'd be the most proud of or the most adamant about wanting people to know?

Mike and Becca Suhy: 39:15

Her name in lights, no, her name on my shirt. No. She wanted to help people. Yeah, I think she would. Find it cool. I do think she would find it cool that something that she went through is now helping others and I don't know if she would've realized like that this was a need and like to now to have it. I think she would've like headfirst into it. I agree. Yeah. And been like the spokesperson for it. I agree. We would have to probably reign her in.

Dr. Amanda Whitehouse: 39:40

Well, and she is a, the spokesperson in any unique way, unfortunately. But, but certainly, when I see her beautiful picture I just. Can see that light shining in her eyes. That makes it connect so much and make it so powerful, the message that you're trying to spread.

Mike and Becca Suhy: 39:54

Yes. Well, thank you. Thank you. Thank you so

Dr. Amanda Whitehouse: 39:56

Yeah, of course. For everybody listening, you mentioned some of the things, but tell everyone all the ways that they can get involved, that they can support you, that they can get stock epi and and education from your organization.

Mike and Becca Suhy: 40:09

So if you go to alison rose foundation.org, that's our website. You can find everything, but we have, as Becca mentioned, our yellow brick road celebration. That is our big event, raises the most money for us. We do that every I. January weekend before the Super Bowl. That's the best way to know when it is. It's always the weekend before the Super Bowl. We have amazing speakers, amazing prizes at it. We do a golf outing, a Par-Tee in July. This year, it's July 11th. Yep. So, you know, if anybody has any items that they would wanna donate for baskets, things like that, that helps us make money to get more epi, that helps us. Um, you can make donations on the website. Yeah. You can volunteer at those events if anybody feels compelled to volunteer. Um, yeah. You can become an instructor, get ahold of us. You can. Um, get, get the epinephrine or the training, you know, whether it's be a liaison for your school district, for any restaurant, you know? Yep. Your city. The majority of how we gain our new restaurants or schools is all pretty much through word of mouth and connections. So all we ever say to people is, if you have a connection, just either put us in touch with somebody or give us their name and we'll reach out. Firemen anywhere get a hold of us.'cause that's our goal is we grow. If we came to Buffalo, we would train first responders there and then they're just part of our foundation and go do it us

Dr. Amanda Whitehouse: 41:32

That's great. I will, I will try to make some of those connections here in our area. And I'm not so far away from you, so I would love,

Mike and Becca Suhy: 41:39

Not at all.

Dr. Amanda Whitehouse: 41:40

we love coming to Cleveland. It's a fun place. Well, I wanna thank you for helping my son,, helping everyone, making everybody safer With all that you're doing, it's making such a big impact, I'm impressed about all of the things that you're doing. It's amazing.

Mike and Becca Suhy: 41:52

Well, thank you, thank you, thank you. And thank you for all you do as well to support your son and all the other millions of people that are living with food allergies. So.

Dr. Amanda Whitehouse: 42:00

Yeah. Team effort, right?

Mike and Becca Suhy: 42:02

Yeah, it's a team effort. It's a community that's bigger than you think. When we started, we didn't realize how big this community is and how great it is. That's exactly right. Yep.

42:11

Thank you so much for joining me for this powerful conversation with Chief and Becca Suhy. As we honor the memory of Allison and recognize the incredible work her parents are doing through the Allison Rose Foundation, we're reminded that awareness alone isn't enough. Action is what creates lasting change. So here are three action steps that you can take after listening today. Number one, Please visit the foundation website@allisonrosefoundation.org. A-L-L-I-S-O-N-R-O-S-E foundation.org. Or on Instagram at Allison Rose Foundation to educate yourself and stay connected to their mission. Number two, contribute this week in whatever way you can give in the way that you're able to, to this foundation or to another foundation or cause that's close to your heart. Whether it's your time, a financial donation, or even sharing their story. Every action matters. And number three, start a conversation. Talk to your friends, to your family, to schools, to community organizations about food allergy, safety, and anaphylaxis. Share your favorite foundation or organization, share an episode of this podcast or a website with people in your life that you think will help them understand something better or build their awareness. The more we talk, the more we can prevent future tragedies. And once again, I wanna thank Chief and Becca Suhy from the bottom of my heart for your courage in sharing Allison's story and for your willingness to take your grief, to protect my child, to make everyone in our community safer in so many ways. Our hearts are with you, and we join you in keeping Allison alive through her story. the content of this podcast is for informational and educational purposes only, and is not a substitute for professional medical or mental health advice, diagnosis, or treatment. If you have any questions about your own medical experience or mental health needs, please consult a professional. I'm Dr. Amanda White house. Thanks for joining me. And until we chat again, remember don't feed the fear.