Bethenny Frankel is opening up about her rare fish allergy and what it means for her day-to-day life. After a near-death experience in December, when she accidentally ate some fish in a soup and was left unconscious for 15 minutes, the Real Housewives of New York City star boarded a flight on Thursday that was nearly forced to turn around when the airline staff began cooking and serving fish, despite repeated advance calls from Frankel about the severity of her allergy.
“Called airline mult x to say I have fish allergy. Got on & they’re serving bass,” Frankel tweeted on Thursday. “They couldn’t not serve it they said. Then they were turning around which I protested bc it would delay people. Cabin asked to not serve it & pilot made announcement to plane. That was fun. #epilife”
Several people responded to the tweet in support of Frankel and others who have similar food allergies but smaller platforms on which to address their severity. Frankel clarified in an additional tweet that, although she didn’t consume the fish being served on the plane, the allergen is airborne, which makes being in an enclosed space with it especially dangerous.
“There are 7 allergen groups & fewer are airborne. The airlines and world needs to change. I was always self conscious about it & today didn’t help,” she tweeted. “I don’t care about the meal. Being trapped in a cabin w no windows w cooking fish is a death trap.”
Some of Frankel’s followers even chimed in with stories about others whose fish allergies resulted in death merely from breathing in airborne particles. When some followers continued to ask why Frankel doesn’t fly privately and even challenged her on the severity of her allergy, she tweeted again: “To clarify: some allergens are transmitted by touch & air. Fish is one & is fatal. The more exposure to them, the more susceptible. It’s not like an immunity thing where more exposure means less susceptible. It’s opposite. I’ve always kept it quiet but that’s over now.”
To clarify: some allergens are transmitted by touch & air. Fish is one & is fatal. The more exposure to them, the more susceptible. It’s not like an immunity thing where more exposure means less susceptible. It’s opposite. I’ve always kept it quiet but that’s over now.
— Bethenny Frankel (@Bethenny) January 3, 2019
Throughout the conversation with her followers, Frankel opted against calling out the airline directly, though on Friday, she put out a call to all major airlines to “stop serving airborne allergens.” She vowed to “stay on this until [they] do.”
1)I called ahead mult x 2)fish cooked in plane NOT the same as restaurant.3)been allergic since birth to fish NOT shellfish 4)plane didn’t turn bc cabin voted 5)pilot called me out to whole plane 6)airlines should NOT serve airborne allergens. & 7)who the F wants fish on a plane?
— Bethenny Frankel (@Bethenny) January 4, 2019
Frankel’s tweets point to a larger struggle for people dealing with allergies. We hope her story helps create change.
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