Imagine that your sister purposely fed your 6-year-old child foods that he was allergic to, and then showed no remorse. What would your reaction be? Would you press charges against your own sister? Well, a group of Redditors encouraged this mom to do just that.

It all began at a child’s birthday party and ended up in a Reddit post where a 32-year-old mother asks if she was wrong to take her son home from a party after her sister purposely fed him foods that she knew would trigger his allergies. Redditors united to tell the mother that not only was she right to be angry but that she should press charges.

The mom explains, “My sister (38F) has three kids of her own who were blessed with no allergies so they can eat whatever they like. Her oldest (13M) had a birthday party not long ago but I had a work-related appointment so I dropped my son off so he could attend. My sister is well aware of his allergies, and I asked if she would be serving food that was okay for him to eat. She assured me all was well, but I now know it wasn't.”

She went on to explain that when she showed up at the party later to pick her son up, he was covered in hives and crying. She knew at once that this was an allergic reaction to something that he had eaten, and she pulled her sister aside to try and find out if he’d been accidentally exposed to an allergen via cross-contamination.

It was at that moment that her sister plainly told her to her face how and why she’d purposely given the boy food that he was allergic to. Her sister claimed that by carefully preparing the boy’s food all the time, the mother was “babying” her child. She went on to insist that the reason her own boys were “stronger and healthier” was because she fed them “everything.”

The sister expressed that it was not fair, on her child’s birthday, for the allergic boy to get “special food.” When the mother explained that food allergies are serious and nothing to feel special about, the sister snarked, “If you’re so bothered by his itching, give him an EpiPen so it can stop.”

The boy’s mother was irate and states that she had to step outside to calm down, but not before saying a few things that she was not proud of. She then got into her car with her son and left. Later, in the middle of the night, her sister called and demanded an apology from her, but the boy’s mother hung up. She then went to Reddit to vent her frustration.

Redditors immediately expressed outrage at the sister and encouraged the mother to press charges. They pointed out that food allergies can be deadly, and in truth, you never know how badly a child will react to a food that they have been allergic to in the past. 

Something that could have been a mild allergen at one time can develop into something that causes anaphylactic shock. This happens every day for people with medication allergies that suddenly worsen. Such allergies always have the potential to become deadly very quickly.

One example is the story of the grandmother who would not stop putting coconut oil in her granddaughter’s hair, even after being advised that the girl was allergic to it. The little girl suffered a brutal death, and the whole family was torn apart.

After reading the comments encouraging her to do so, the mother returned to Reddit a few days ago to update that she had decided to press charges. She thanked the Redditors for helping her to understand how serious the incident was, and that it was not her fault. 

She had been feeling guilty for dropping her son off where she knew there would be foods that would trigger his allergies, but Redditors assured her that her sister was responsible. They explained that the mother left her son in the care of an adult who should have protected him, but she failed to do so for troubling reasons.

Food allergies, just like medication and other allergies, are very serious and should never be downplayed. People who purposely give food to someone knowing that they are allergic can be charged with anything from assault to attempted murder. 

You should NEVER give food to anyone who has shown an allergic reaction to it in the past, especially not a child. Thankfully, this time, the results were not deadly.

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