Sabrina's Law

Filmmaker Barry Lank's Sabrina's Law documents Canadian Sara Shannon's campaign for laws requiring schools to provide alternatives for students with life-threatening food allergies, as well as training for school staff to deal with allergy-related emergencies. In 2003, Shannon's 13-year-old daughter Sabrina died of anaphylactic shock after eating lunch in her school cafeteria, apparently because the tongs used to serve her French fries had also been used in a dish containing cheese. While Sabrina was still alive but unconscious, Sara promised her she would find a way to protect other children with food allergies. Bright, cheerful, and artistic, the late Sabrina appears in home movies, family photographs, and a Web-based version of a radio program about life-threatening allergies she made with her aunt's help in 2001—excerpts of which reveal Sabrina's bubbly personality while demonstrating her knowledge of allergies and her own limitations. Family members, friends, and classmates talk about Sabrina's life and death, as well as politicians, including Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., whose son is also anaphylactic. Kennedy and others argue that the incidence of food allergies has ballooned in recent years to a health crisis of epidemic proportions, meriting legislative attention. As the film draws to a close, only Ontario passes related legislation, but Sara continues working with advocacy groups to lobby politicians in Canada and the United States for action. A solid tool for raising awareness, the moving Sabrina's Law is recommended. Aud: C, P. (M. Puffer-Rothenberg)