When we hear the term “life-changing moment”, we tend to think of dramatic scenes. A car accident, perhaps, or maybe a devastating natural disaster. We don’t usually think of something as seemingly innocuous as a measly bug bite. And yet for Ashley Hudnall, that’s exactly what happened. When she was rushed to the hospital in the middle of the night, barely able to breathe, she could never have imagined it all started with a single tick.
Ashley and Clay Hudnall live with their two young children in Westport, Kentucky, a quiet town perched on the east bank of the Ohio River. As a family who’s passionate about hunting, fishing, and being outdoors, the Hudnalls are used to finding ticks after spring turkey hunts. They’ve always taken precautions to reduce contact with ticks, but they also assumed finding a few ticks here and there was just something that came with the territory. That was, until one night in June 2021.
After attending a fundraising event where BBQ brisket was served, they went to bed at midnight, a little later than usual. Within a couple of hours, Ashley woke up experiencing symptoms. It began with fever-like temperature swings and itchy palms, but the symptoms quickly started increasing in severity. And when she began panicking, complaining that her mouth and eyes felt like they were on fire and asking for Benadryl, Clay realized Ashley was going into anaphylaxis and needed to get to a hospital immediately.
Due to their rural location, Clay was afraid that first responders would take too long to reach them. Luckily, Clay’s brother, Field, lived right down the road and came to watch the kids while Clay rushed Ashley to the ER in his truck. While explaining her symptoms to a nurse on a preemptive call to the ER, Ashley’s throat suddenly closed up so badly that she could no longer speak. The gravity of the situation truly hit them when the nurse told Clay to stay on the line in case Ashley stopped breathing and needed to be revived by CPR. Thankfully they reached the hospital within a few minutes, where she was quickly treated and stabilized, but the experience had seriously shaken them.
When Ashley met with an allergist a few weeks later, she didn’t test positive for any of the 70 common allergens that were tested for. Digging deeper, the doctor found out they were a hunting family and asked if Ashley had recently been bitten by a tick, to which she said yes. He knew right then and there what it was: Alpha Gal syndrome, a condition that creates a life-threatening allergy to any type of mammal meat.
Caused by bites from the lone star tick, Alpha Gal syndrome is unique in that the allergic reaction is delayed by several hours, unlike other food allergens which cause a more or less immediate reaction. Remember how the Hudnalls were served brisket at the fundraiser on the evening of the incident? That was the trigger for the scare she suffered later that night, and the delay was how the allergist knew right away that it all stemmed back to a single tick bite.
Today, the Hudnalls are still passionate whitetail hunters, although they can’t justify keeping as much deer meat as they used to, since Ashley can no longer eat venison. She also has to carry an EpiPen with her at all times now, just in case. And while they’ve managed to roll with the punches and carry on with life mostly as before, they have become vocal advocates of better tick prevention in hopes that no one else will have to suffer from this dangerous condition.
Alpha Gal syndrome is far from the only tick-borne illness. Some, like Lyme disease and Rock Mountain spotted fever are fairly well known, while others have only recently been discovered in the last few years—but all of them can have potentially serious health implications. And with tick ranges spreading due to climate change, these diseases are also spreading, too, although spotty reporting makes it difficult to assess the true extent of the problem. So for now, the best line of defense is having the proper gear and being diligent with checking for ticks after venturing outdoors.
Since Ashley’s diagnosis, the Hudnalls have been trusting our Equinox Guard Collection to repel bugs and resist bites. “Last spring was the first time I can ever remember not having to remove multiple ticks after hunting”, says Clay. Knowing all too well how one bite can change your life, the Hudnalls are spreading the word about the potential dangers of ticks to anyone who will listen. “Last year, neither me nor my wife had one tick bite during the spring season thanks to Equinox Guard. I want to protect myself, my family, and friends from being impacted by these bugs.”
Learn more about how Equinox Guard can help protect you from potential disease-spreading insects and other biting bugs.