After Teen Daughter's Death, Elmhurst Mom Pushing For Law Encouraging Police Officers To Carry EpiPens
(CBS) -- An Elmhurst mother who lost her daughter to a severe allergic reaction hopes to save lives by getting police officers and others to carry EpiPens, reports WBBM's Nancy Harty.
Shelly LeGere has been an operating room nurse for 23 years, but she wasn't prepared when her daughter Annie went into anaphylactic shock last August.
The 13-year-old, who had no known allergies, asked her mom to pick her up from a slumber party because she wasn't feeling well.
LeGere says in the five minutes it took for her to get there, her daughter passed out and was barely breathing.
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A police officer arrived first but no one had an EpiPen to deliver life-saving epinephrine until the ambulance arrived. Annie died nine days later.
"I just think that if epinephrine had been available right away, which is crucial, during the anaphylactic reaction, she might still be here," LeGere said.
Now LeGere is working with state lawmakers to encourage but not require police and others to get training and start carrying EpiPens.
State Senator Chris Nybo is sponsoring the bill. He says school bus companies, park districts and daycare centers are among those also targeted in the bill because they work with children.
Nybo says the measure would limit liability of those administering epinephrine to save a life.
He hopes to have it passed by the end of the spring session, which is slated to adjourn next month.
