Brain Allergies 83started as a result of his measles vaccination; he was fine up to that point
and then deteriorated very badly. This caused pandemonium in the studio
and eventually I had to settle for saying “it seems as if...” Gay was very
insistent on this point.
As a result of appearing on the hugely popular show, the telephone
exploded and I had so many calls from distraught parents asking if I could
help their child, that I took it as a call to open a third clinic in Dublin. I
had happy times there and enjoyed plenty of the craic (Gaelic for fun and
camaraderie).
Attempted murder
At the other end of the scale was an older youth, also Irish, called Tony. In
1987 he was referred to me by the British Courts for an evaluation. Tony
had been charged with attempted murder, later mitigated to grievous bodily
harm, after trying to strangle his stepfather. This forbearing man had heard
of my work with violent youths and asked the judge to consider this might
be the reason for his stepson’s violent outbursts. His request was granted
and Tony was sent to my office. He was not under guard.
Because of the exigencies and imperatives of the situation, I
decided to use intradermal challenge testing. This required injecting tiny
amounts of food extract. All the more remarkable therefore that some of
the reactions we observed were severe. On two occasions I was called to
deal with Tony’s threatening outbursts, which terrified my nurses. But each
reaction was quite clear and the corresponding “neutralizing dose” quelled
his rage, proving equally reliably that the effect was a reaction to specific
foods.
In fact potato, beef, strawberry and one other food I have since
forgotten had this effect on him – but no other common food. The worst
reaction was to potato, and pretty soon the media, who were already watching
the case because of the court connection, launched into a frenzy of irony
that an Irish youth should be allergic to potato. Tony became known as the
“Irish Potato Boy” and his story reverberated round the world. I had an
unheard-of forty-minute news slot on prime time TV (Channel 4 UK) and
the production team came to film me at work. Tony certainly obliged with a
reaction in front of the camera, sweating, shaking and looking murderous,
right on cue after an injection.
In due course Tony was found guilty and given a conditional
discharge, the condition being that he stick to my diet regime and stay out
of trouble. Months later I heard that the judge himself had watched the