Family of schoolboy who died after eating a slice of apple crumble share their heartbreak: ‘We miss him every second of the day’
- Max McKenzie, 15, remembered with fundraiser in his name
- The teen died after an anaphylactic reaction induced asthma
A family has opened up on their heartbreak after their son died after eating a slice of apple crumble.
Melbourne boy Max McKenzie, 15, died after eating the piece of dessert in August 2021.
Max was severely allergic to nuts and had no idea the apple crumble contained traces of walnuts when he suffered a fatal anaphylactic reaction.
He used his EpiPen but developed sudden asthma and was rushed to hospital before he died 13 days later.
His mother Tamara and her husband Ben have relived the horrifying experience two years later saying they were reminded of him every day.
15-year-old Max McKenzie (pictured) suffered a fatal anaphylactic reaction when he ate an apple pie and died in August 2021
Almost two years after 15-year-old Max McKenzie suffered a fatal anaphylactic reaction his parents Ben and Tamara (pictured) applauded their son’s friends’ actions at his former school for hosting Live to the Max Day on Friday to raise funds for allergy research
Ms McKenzie told the Herald Sun her son had an ‘extremely close, large group of friends’ and they don’t want what happened to Max to happen to anyone else.
‘It never will be (the same) and we miss him every second of every single day,’ she said.
‘What happened to Max, we don’t want it to happen to anyone else’s child.’
Mr McKenzie, who is an emergency physician, recalled his son’s zest for life.
‘He loved life. He was out of bed at six o’clock every morning and was keen to do whatever was on the program for that day,’ he said.
Mr McKenzie said no parent should have to endure the same pain and hoped to see advancements in the treatment and prevention of anaphylactic reactions.
‘You just can’t predict who’s going to have that fatal reaction,’ he said.
‘There should actually be zero deaths from food allergy in Australia because it’s preventable at a whole lot of other levels.’
Camberwell Grammar, a high school in Melbourne’s east that was attended by Max, has also paid tribute to the former tribute with plans to host a ‘Live to the Max Day’.
His peers will raise money with the funds to be donated to the National Allergy Centre of Excellence which operates in the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute.
Camberwell Grammar (pictured) is one of eight taking part in Youth Action for Allergy, with all funds being donated to the National Allergy Centre of Excellence at the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute in Melbourne
‘To have them among the people who are uniting and helping this just means so much to us,’ Ms McKenzie said.
Camberwell Grammar is part of nine schools that are taking part in the fundraiser as part of Food Allergy Week.
About 20 people die each year in Australia as a result of anaphylaxis, according to the National Allergy Council.
NACE director Associate Professor Kirsten Perrett described Australia as the world’s ‘allergy capital’.
‘It’s my life passion to find new ways to prevent food allergy from occurring and to treat food allergy early and ultimately so that, one day, we can get every child to start school allergy free,’ she said.
