BellaOnline Forums Health and Fitness Asthma Death from Asthma

Two days ago, a fifteen-year-old boy from my hometown died from an asthma attack. His family and friends are of course shocked and grieving horribly. I am once again reminded that asthma is not just an annoyance like mild spring hayfever...it is a matter of life and death. It can attack the young, the old, and anyone in between. It is frightening to realize that in spite of all the advances of modern health care, asthma is actually on the increase throughout the entire world, and reaches up to over 30% of the population in some areas. It is my hope that the members of this group can help educate each other and prevent this from happening to yet another person.

Absolutely right, Cheryl! What was the old catch phrase the association used... "It's a matter of life or breath!"

That is sad and scary. I have rented this house for ten years come August and found out about two years into living here that the mother who lived here with her husband and sons prior to us had died at the hospital after having an asthma attack in the bedroom that I use.

I had a ceiling fan placed inside there when I moved in and the one window needed a neighbor to help pull down around Halloween since it was cold and that was stuck.

The two windows in the bedroom are right at the driveway to the house behind that driveway. I did not even see that house when we came here and if I had I would not have moved in here. Every window on one side is them and the other side is the couple and all their relatives and kids who walk on that sidewalk to the back apt that is part of this duplex.

The exhaust from that family of cars next door is deadly and it broke two of my carbon monoxide detectors. When I heard about that mother - it happened a few years prior since they still lived here and then got kicked out since they stopped paying rent and then two other people were here for like a month and they left and then us.

But when I heard about that I said did they check her for carbon monoxide and no one knew about the issues with the cars and the bedroom. I guess they never said anything. I called police many times over the years and many health depts at the city offices and nothing. They tell me to move and why would I want to live next to that family. they pretend to not speak english and talk in spanish to cops and I am clueless.

Now as their sons are back living there and they are in 20s and 30s the driveway looks like a prison yard with all their shaved heads and tatoos. They lean against my fence and throw their booze in my dumpsters and smoke dope 24/7 outside my windows and then have the nerve to complain about the feral cats I feed and in their driveway. When I said he smokes dope all the time and the people leave their cars on the sidewalk blocking my entrance he says they lived there longer and this last time I said your cars killed that lady here and he said I did not know what I was talking about.

I cannot wait to get out of here. I sleep with my asthma spray on the floor next to the bed and have several fans going and the A/C on 24/7.

There was a legal case here where I live, a Wells woman whose husband was a Deputy, died suddenly and the autopsy said it was from asthma but I am guessing since we live in a small area there just had to be drama and a case was tried and they brought in several experts who all said the same thing, she died from an asthma attack. It really is scary to thing you can just die like that from them.

I am SO thankful that my asthma seems to have lessened. When I moved here to Florida it cropped up as a serious problem.

There were times when I would be coughing so hard I was unable to breath, I would stand up at my desk, people would come to help me but couldn't do anything. I have fainted from the coughing and lack of air and actually coughed so hard I have gagged and thrown up. Its a desperate feeling to NOT be able to breath.

I feel so fortunate that I am doing as well as I can.

What a horribly difficult situation...It sounds like you can't get away from your asthma triggers (pollution and smoke)very easily.

What a sad story. It sounds like nobody took her asthma seriously even after she died from it--they assumed it must have happened for some other reason.

Thanks for telling your story. Is there anything in particular that made your asthma improve?

I'm really not sure.
The only real difference is that now I work from home. I suspect that maybe the AIR system in the place I worked made things worse. I wasn't the only one who had this problem in that office.

I used to have to take 3-4 different medication to control it and even then I would still get sick and it got out of control so I couldn't breath. I had to see a pulmonary doctor regularly.

A friend of mine moved to the countryside because of her severe asthma. She said that it almost killed her once, but an officemate managed to get her breathing again somehow. I hope they find a way to make life better for asthma sufferers.