Chezzi Denyer opens up about near-death experience: “Tell Sailor I love her”
Chezzi Denyer has opened up about her near-death experience, which came back to mind after witnessing her daughter Sailor’s severe allergic reaction.
In an interview with Mamamia published on Friday, the mother-of-two said she nearly lost her life to anaphylaxis shock when she was 32.
Chezzi said she was vomiting and struggling to breathe so severely that she mouthed to husband and broadcaster Grant Denyer, “Tell Sailor I love her.”
In an Instagram post, Chezzi explained, “I arrive at hospital close to death, unable to breathe with swollen lips, eyes closed over and swollen tongue.”
She revealed that if she had arrived at the hospital five minutes later, she “wouldn’t have survived”.
“It caused me a lot of grief,” she said. “I received counselling for post-traumatic stress disorder. I thought I was gone.”
After extensive testing, it was revealed that Chezzi was reacting to cat hair from the carpet of her home from previous owners, which was exacerbated by the wattle tree outside her window and a glass of wine she had for dinner that night.
Sailor, who was 18 months old at the time of the incident, showed signs of allergies later on.
Last week, Chezzi shared on Instagram a picture of Sailor’s arms after she was tested for allergies.
“Unfortunately her reactions are worse than 3 years ago,” Chezzi wrote.
Previously, Sailor had been found to get reactions to other food items.
"She wanted some of Grant's paleo cereal and she had a moderate reaction to cashew,” Chezzi told Mamamia. “Her face swelled up, she had puffy eyes and hives on her lips.”
Chezzi returned to the allergy specialists after Sailor reacted to watermelon when eating at a hotel buffet recently.
“Her histamine levels were out of control,” Chezzi said. “They were all elevated, which I guess partly we now know, is because she is allergic to two particular grasses around our house. So that made the perfect storm for her. She's now also allergic to peanuts, avocado and oranges, which she wasn't before.”
Other parents have praised Chezzi for her Instagram post, which put the spotlight on the seriousness of having allergies.
“A lot of parents go through it and I take my hat off to them,” she told 9Honey.
“It’s warmed me to see all the beautiful comments from people telling me about their own experiences … It seems to be getting a lot worse.”
Paediatric allergist Dr Preeti Joshi told Mamamia that allergies can develop in some people over time. She recommended checking for allergies with regular testing.
“It depends on the age, the allergy they have and any other problems present,” Dr Joshi said.
“If you have a teenager who has an established peanut allergy you might only need to go back every one to two years. If you have a little baby or a child and things are changing quite rapidly, we know the majority of younger kids can grow out of allergies – so that might be more of a six months to one year kind of check in.”
According to the Australasian Society of Clinical Immunology and Allergy, keeping a record of symptoms could help in identifying the allergens that cause a reaction. People looking for information and advice on their allergies can contact Allergy & Anaphylaxis Australia on 1300 728 000.