ALLENTOWN, Pa. – Every year roughly 225 people die from food allergies. The national Allergy Asthma network says nearly half of them are children.

One Allentown family knows the heartbreak behind those statistics too well.

Looking at pictures of their son, 3-year-old Elijah brings a flood of memories for Dina Hawthorne and Thomas Silvera.

It also brings back tears. 

“It hurts,” said Silvera. “But the love is still there.”

In 2017, Elijah died from anaphylaxis after he was given food that he was allergic to at a New York Day care.

“They had they had his epinephrine auto injector. They had his nebulizer,” said Hawthorne. “They had everything that they needed, and they did nothing.”

“They assured us that they can, you know, take care of a child who has food allergies,” said Silvera.

The couple says at the time, laws were unclear about what educators should do in the case of anaphylaxis.

So, they created the Elijah Alavi Foundation to try to spare other families the pain of losing a child.

“We sat down with our legislators and we got to work. And fast forward now, you know we’re here,” said Hawthorne.

Pennsylvania recently became the 8th state to pass Elijah’s Law, mandating schools and daycares be trained on spotting anaphylaxis and how to administer epinephrine.

Elijah’s parents hope one day it will be a national mandate.

“Food allergies is not just hives or rash. Like children can actually die,” said Hawthorne.

Hawthorne has also written a book about food allergies called “Elijah Builds a Park.” The hope being that greater understanding of food allergies will save lives.

“We don’t want another parent to receive a phone call like we did,” said Silvera.

Hawthorne and Silvera say they foundation is currently lobbying in New Jersey, Colorado and Florida for Elijah’s Law to be adopted.

The foundation also spends a good amount of time training daycare and educational facilities on what they need to know to protect children.

For more information about the foundation’s mission, how to donate or get involved visit https://www.elijahalavifoundation.org/.

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