Heartbeat: Thank Crunchie for Dr Nick!

November 1, 2019

Telling his story to Trust Board, sixteen year old Jasim Talib was only four months old when he was diagnosed with a severe dairy allergy after being rushed to hospital following a severe reaction to porridge.

He explained: “Throughout my childhood I was always acutely aware of food, and the danger of eating the wrong thing. Primary school was very hard as I felt left out, as I couldn’t have hot school dinners, but had the same sandwiches every day. Holidays were hard too, as I had to take an extra suitcase of dairy free food I could safely eat, and hot food choices abroad meant a diet of chips as they were the only things that were considered safe from dairy.

“Chocolate treats were a big problem too during my childhood, as parties and school events invariably produced chocolate bars as prizes, so if I ever won anything I was unable to eat it, but brought it home for my parents.

“However all that changed when Dr Nick Makwana told my mum about a treatment to cure my dairy allergy, which sounded good, but at first I was nervous, as I’d lived my whole life staying away from dairy. But it was exciting too, so I started the treatment which took six months to cure me. It began by me drinking milk that was diluted with water. Gradually the amount of milk was increased until I could drink a whole glass. That was amazing. I couldn’t get enough of it! Then, Dr Nick suggested I try to eat something dairy, and I knew immediately what I wanted to try. A Crunchie! It felt like I’d been waiting all my life for this taste, and it was wonderful! Crunchies are now my favourite chocolate bar. “It is thanks to Dr Nick that I want to become a paediatrician like him, and help other children like me. He changed my life so I’d like to follow in his footsteps.”