ausEE Inc. Charity Ambassador - Eddie Woo
2018 Australia's Local Hero, mathematics teacher for the NSW Department of Education and TV Host of Teenage Boss and Ultimate Classroom, Eddie Woo has become an Australian household name and we are delighted to have him as our Charity Ambassador.
Eddie Woo has been inspiring students across the globe through his YouTube channel, Wootube for over 10 years. In 2018, Eddie joined ausEE Inc., as our Charity Ambassador to help raise awareness for eosinophilic gastrointestinal disorders (EGID), a cause close to his heart.
Eddie is a proud father with three children who all live with some form of allergic disease. This includes asthma, eczema and multiple immediate food allergies. One of them has an EGID, namely, eosinophilic oesophagitis (EoE). EoE is a rare allergic disease caused by eosinophils, a type of white blood cell, being found in above-normal amounts in the oesophagus which can cause inflammation and tissue damage. This has caused Eddie’s child to live with symptoms such as difficulty swallowing, vomiting, stomach pain and ‘failure to thrive’.
“The difficulties are every day. Eating itself has become a really difficult experience, because eating was associated with an incredible amount of discomfort and pain just to squeeze food and drink down. In addition, there is a social aspect to food that is very difficult for others to understand. Since relationships are often formed through mealtimes, our children have had to struggle with having a complex and cautious relationship to even the simplest social gatherings.”
Eddie Woo reads Meet Arabella
In this video you can watch Eddie Woo reading our book 'Meet Arabella'. Made in support of National EOS Awareness Week 2021, it’s a special video to watch with your kids, friends and family to help explain eosinophilic oesophagitis to them. Your child might even like to share the video with their teacher and classmates.