CUYAHOGA HEIGHTS, Ohio — Allison Suhy’s family remembers her as a bright light with a lust for living life that was infectious. Ally, as they called her, had typical, happy childhood full of activities, friends and volunteering.
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“She graduated from high school, went to Ohio University to be an early childhood education teacher. She wanted to help people while there, it was the happiest we saw her,” reflected her father, Cuyahoga Heights Fire Chief Michael Suhy.
Today, Ally’s family is now fulfilling her dreams of helping people. But it was never planned to be this way.
Ally lived with a peanut allergy since she was a toddler, but never had a severe reaction until 2017.
She was 18 years old.
“I got to go down November of her freshman year and spend dad's weekend with her, which is the ultimate experience with your kid to go to college and see them that happy. I saw why she truly loved it in Athens, said goodbye to her Saturday night. But I didn't realize it'd be the last time I was with her.”
Just a few hours after saying goodbye to her dad, Ally developed a severe allergic reaction. Days later she lost her life.
Struggling to cope with the unimaginable loss, her family knew they had to do something positive to honor Ally.
“We have two other kids, Jenna and Ryan, and when it happened, I didn't know how we were going to survive life. How are we going to move forward?” Michael remembered. “But they showed us how to do this and to keep it going. And then we kind of took it from there.”
Michael and his wife, Rebecca, knew they wanted to honor Ally while at the same time preventing other families from suffering the same heartbreak . They see their work as essential. Today, one in 13 children in the U.S. has a food allergy.
“It is [alarming]. And then 25% have a reaction to school. They didn't know they had an allergy. Maybe they ate something for the first time their body changed and now I'm allergic to it. So you don't always know.”
One year after the tragedy, The Allison Rose Foundation was created. A 501c3 non-profit, the foundation is dedicated to preventing other families from experiencing the tragedy and untimely food allergy death of a child or young adult.
“We work with 10 allergists from across the country that give our foundation information and we go out to schools, restaurants, businesses, universities to train and educate and they give us all this information. We do everything we do for free.”
Their ultimate goal is to both educate and provide the tools needed to quickly respond to an allergic reaction.
"We'll come into a restaurant and we'll train them on what is a food allergy, what is anaphylaxis? Signs and symptoms, what to look for communication with guests,” Michael explained. “[We know that no matter what,] accidents can happen. So if it does, they're prepared here.”
The Suhy family, of Independence, has taken The Allison Rose Foundation’s work all over Ohio and beyond -- conducting trainings as far as North Carolina and Kentucky.
Here in Northeast Ohio, they’ve certified close to 15 local restaurants, including Cordelia on E. 4th Street, where 3News anchor Dave Chudowsky met with Suhy. Here, you can find their sticker proudly displayed in the front window.
“We [also go into] middle school, high school, usually health class and we'll do [our training]. It's one class period, and we'll go in there and we'll teach the kids basically what we do with restaurants, same presentation... We'll also do the staff as well. All for free,” he said. “I always say give me a group of people to train me or one of our instructors will be there to do it.”
Their work has extended to the Ohio Statehouse as well. In 2021, they worked to successfully pass the Allison Rose Act, also known as House Bill 231.
The Allison Rose Act also requires the Ohio Department of Education to give schools lists of entities that offer free epinephrine auto-injectors to qualifying school districts.
"To me. It's just something we did, we keep doing. But when you take a step back and we passed law to honor our daughter, it's amazing,” Michael reflected.
And as her family honors the special gift Ally was to so many, they’re giving the gift of a safer future to so many more.
“She would love this. She would just love all of this,” Michael said with a smile, reflecting on what Ally would think of the difference they’ve made over the past six years. “I'd hope she'd be proud. That's all. I mean, just honoring her. That's it. That's what we want to do.”
You can join The Allison Rose Foundation on February 3, 2024, from 7:00-11:00 pm., at the Embassy Suites by Hilton Cleveland Rockside in Independence, Ohio, for their annual Yellow Brick Road Celebration, to once again gather as a community to raise funds and bring “courage” and “heart” to food allergy education, awareness, research, and advocacy.
The night will feature inspiring stories and special guests, as well as heavy hors d’oeuvres, specialty cocktails, beer and wine, raffles, and auctions. Attire is always casual. Click here to register.