A teenage girl has received death threats after she opened up on Twitter about a worrying allergy she was recently diagnosed with.
After suffering from regular nosebleeds from the age of 11, 19-year-old Katy Dallas from Dundee visited the doctors after becoming concerned.
The doctor diagnosed Katy with being allergic to ‘something in the air’, either dust or more likely air pollution.
As Katy told UNILAD, it took a while for her to get this diagnosis:
When the nosebleeds got really bad, happening like four times a day when I was about 16/17, I went to the doctors.
They had just become a worry and basically I was told I had a sensitive nose lining and it was just the drier weather.
But when I went to another doctor she told me I was allergic to something in the air. Since moving from the countryside to the city it has got worse so I think its more likely to be air pollution.
Like with other allergies Katy sneezes a lot, has regular nosebleeds and often has a really itchy nose and eyes.
Every day she has to take medication, use a nose spray and an antibiotic cream regularly to manage her allergy.
Rather taken aback by her diagnosis, Katy spoke about it on her personal Twitter page.
She tweeted:
I went to the doctors today cause I have like four nosebleeds a day to discover I’m allergic to the air and need to take tablets every day for the rest of my life. Allergic to the f**ing air. Honestly…
The tweet blew up receiving 166,000 likes at time of writing (June 1).
While the majority of people messaged Katy asking if she is okay, she did receive a lot of angry replies as people thought Katy meant ‘oxygen’. She then confirmed it was ‘air pollution’ she was allergic too adding her medication helps control it.
However, despite her clarifying further tweet, Katy continued receiving online abuse from strangers including several death threats.
Speaking exclusively to UNILAD, she said:
I would’ve worded it better if I had known because some people took it to mean I was allergic to oxygen, which I’m definitely not.
Although some people messaged me saying some really kind things or asking for advice, some reacted in a nasty manner either saying it wasn’t true or I was just exaggerating and it was just regular hay fever.
The worst was when people started to say I deserved to die or it would be cheaper for the NHS if I just died.
Some people did apologise when I explained further but the really bad ones didn’t.
There really is no reason to write tweets like this. There is never an excuse when it comes to online trolls.
As Katy admitted, the diagnosis itself was already frightening and so the death threats really didn’t help.
She added:
The diagnosis is kind of scary for me. It just feels weird that I have gone from taking no medication to taking three different things a day.
But I do feel better and so far I haven’t had another nosebleed so I guess it is worth it!
I am just happy I finally know what’s going on with me as I was so tired and drained as well from the infection and my body working overtime to keep me going.
Remain positive Katy and try not to let the haters get you down!
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