Real Voices. Real Impact. | A Student’s Food Allergy Story

Meet Jayden, a 17-year-old high school senior living his own food allergy student story - one that includes never leaving home without his EpiPen and a couple of Benadryl tablets tucked into a Ziploc bag (Allergy Apparel will happily upgrade his carrier).
Jayden is allergic to gluten, dairy, eggs, nuts, and oats — a heavy load for any child to manage, especially while growing up.

Jayden’s story is real and raw. It breaks my heart that anyone, especially a child, has to experience such unkindness. I’m guessing many of our kids, as food allergy parents, have been through something similar… and that breaks my heart too.

Jayden’s Story (in his own words)

“My name is Jayden Mammen and I am 17 years old and currently a senior at Brea Olinda High School. I carry my epipen with me everywhere I go, I carry it in a ziploc bag with a couple of benadryl pills. I’m allergic to gluten, dairy, eggs, nuts, and oats. It’s been difficult growing up with all these allergies and I’ve not only had to eat differently than my peers but also be aware of what they are eating around me.

My allergies have caused people to treat me differently throughout my life. For example in 8th grade my teacher brought a chocolate fountain into class for an end of the year party knowing that I was allergic. She told me to sit outside the class by myself so I would not have an allergic reaction. I distinctly remember trying to hold back my emotions as a 13 year old sitting outside alone at 8 in the morning while all my peers were having a good time inside.

Experiences like that have made me feel different from the people around me and I still struggle with this today. I hope in the future people will be more aware of allergies so that nobody else has to sit outside by themselves. I think that as a country we should educate more teachers and caretakers about allergies so that children with allergies won’t ever have to feel different or excluded from their peers.”

His voice is powerful. His story is real. And it’s a reminder of why compassion, awareness, and small moments of understanding matter so much.

Thank you, Jayden, for trusting us with your experience. Your story will help others feel seen.