October 8th, 2025Fundraiser into childhood allergies

Patricia Ilhan’s daughter was severely allergic to tree nuts. Patricia and her late husband John (of the Crazy John’s mobile phone business) found out when their daughter was just one. John ate a jar of peanuts and kissed her on the face.
“She was unrecognisable. She looked like an alien. We called the doctor and he told us ‘just don’t give her any peanuts’.”

Patricia and John felt that was not good enough. “There was nothing being done in the marketplace, there was no education at schools and there were no doctors who really understood the problem. We felt that we were given this child for a reason and we were lucky enough to be in a position to make change so we started the Australian Food Allergy Foundation. And to be honest today Victoria is still the safest state to raise a child with a food allergy.” Her daughter is now a healthy 24-year-old.
Patricia, who more recently co-founded the Centre for Paediatric Allergies at the Epworth Hospital in Richmond, said this has become her life’s work and the couple’s legacy.
Every year she raises money, around $200,000, to pay for a fellowship at the centre to train up a doctor to be an allergy specialist.
“They go off after the 12 months and treat children specifically who have severe food allergies – this year is the seventh one we’ve done so there’s six other doctors running around there who can see children. Australia is not a third world country and kids shouldn’t have to wait 18 months to see a specialist.”
Money is raised every year at a different event and this year Patricia will hold a private dinner at her home, Lyonbank Estate in Glenlyon. She had also hoped to hold an Open Garden Day and Prestige Car Show but that has been postponed due to some planning issues.
The dinner, black tie, will be held in November in an event with emcee Mike Snell, who does many events for the Epworth Hospital at Crown Casino, and with about 150 invited guests.
Patricia says once that is done and dusted, she will get back to planning the open day at her home, which she bought three years ago.
She finishes chatting with a story about a builder she employed to do some renovations on that property.
“I had a fabulous builder do some renovations when we first bought it and his wife was expecting a baby. So she had this beautiful baby boy Fraser and the father was making eggs one morning and Fraser was in his high chair, and yes, it just went from bad to worse very quickly. He was allergic to eggs. The father was so distraught that he couldn’t get into the ambulance with his son so the wife had to go – and I sent them straight to the Epworth. They now have a 12-month plan to help desensitize him.
“It’s always the parents who try to mistakenly poison their children and their babies. And they feel so guilty but it is not their fault. They just need to take action, hopefully it is OK, and they get the help and plans they need for the future.”