Grit Diaries
Siobhan Wilson · 42 min
At 16, Siobhan Wilson has survived 130 resuscitations, seven anaphylaxis episodes, and nearly died in an ambulance on the night she won Young Entrepreneur of the Year — and she's turned every moment of it into a mission to make Australia safer.
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Siobhan Wilson was born at 27 weeks, weighing 843 grams. She spent her early life in the NICU, resuscitated roughly 130 times, and faced open heart surgery at one month old. Her single mother refused to let those medical conditions define her. When Siobhan complained about yet another doctor's appointment, her mum said simply: suck it up, princess, you're not the only one. That no-nonsense support, paired with bedtime stories about fairies and magic, became the soil where Siobhan's creativity grew. At six years old, sitting in the back of a car on the way to another appointment, she sketched out a business plan to help other kids with medical needs and disabilities. By ten, she had registered her company, Our Pixie Friends.
In October 2024, Siobhan won Young Entrepreneur of the Year at a local awards dinner. She had checked the restaurant six times to confirm her food was safe. She had anaphylaxis, which she had experienced seven times before. But that night, the dairy-free mashed potato was made on machinery shared with butter and milk products, and the manufacturer was not required by Australian law to disclose it. For an hour after the awards ceremony, Siobhan mistook her symptoms for anxiety and asthma. By the time the ambulance arrived, she needed the equivalent of 12 EpiPens to keep her alive. The paramedics told her they didn't think she would survive the 15-minute drive to hospital.
Now 16, Siobhan trains as a sports and event medic because she wanted to be the calm, reassuring presence for others that she did not have that night. She works on food labeling laws, medication transparency, and community awareness of anaphylaxis. To people living with this condition, she has one message: don't be humiliated by what happened. To their carers, she offers gratitude and a reminder: we need space and time to heal, and your patience is what we need.
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