Changing lives -Changing futures

I know we haven’t met, but as a supporter of Asthma UK, I hope you will be interested in what I have to say. My name is Debby Waddell and I’m a Child Asthma Nurse Specialist funded by Asthma UK. I was struggling with how to start my letter to you. Should I tell you about my role helping schools, families and healthcare professionals? Or about the impact my work has on their lives? Would you even want to know about all this? Instead I’ve decided to tell you about what inspired me to become a Child Asthma Nurse Specialist.

Many years ago I had a friend with severe asthma. Determined to lead a ‘normal’ life, she started a family and had a beautiful little girl. Two years later my friend suffered a severe asthma attack, resulting in permanent brain damage and her being on life support for three years before sadly
passing away.

My friend’s little girl also had severe asthma and for many years I saw her on the Paediatric Unit. She was a special and courageous child. We grew really close, she would paint me wonderful pictures and I helped support her when she was ill, ensuring she had a strong network around her. It was important that she, her dad and school all knew how to manage her asthma well. Not only did she have to deal with losing her mum and being hospitalised regularly - but she lived in constant fear that she too would die of an asthma attack. We eventually lost touch but I never forgot her.

Some 16 years later, I was at a school awards ceremony for my own daughter and my heart skipped a beat as I watched a gorgeous young lady, the image of my late friend, walking up on stage to collect an award. I cannot put into words the emotions that welled up inside me, I was so proud and inspired to see that this scared little girl had not let her fears or her asthma hold her back in life. She had blossomed into an intelligent young woman with a full life ahead of her and she was embracing it. This is why I became a Child Asthma Nurse Specialist. And this is why I am writing to ask you to help fund further Asthma UK Specialist Nurse posts throughout the UK today. To help more children lead successful and healthy lives.

I am often asked why does Asthma UK work so much with children? I always explain we provide a vast array of services and support for children and adults. But I feel strongly that by simply instilling in children the ability to manage their asthma we will create a future full of active, successful and healthy people with asthma. Hospital admissions will be reduced and in turn Government spending. Sometimes it is the smallest thing that can have the biggest impact.

I am about to start working with a little boy who has just lost his mother to asthma and is not controlling his own asthma very well. His home life is tough and his school life is fraught with difficulties. I know I can make a difference to this little boy’s life right now. I can ensure he has a safe supportive network around him through working closely with his dad and school, making sure his doctor monitors him and most importantly that he grows up confident in himself and with his asthma.

Asthma is the most common long-term childhood condition in the UK and we lose the equivalent of a classroom of children every year. This is horrifying.

I work everyday with teachers, school nurses, children, parents, health practitioners, doctors and social workers -teaching them all about asthma management. Through all the people I come into contact with I pick up an endless stream of children in desperate need of intervention. If I don’t reach these children, they may become another statistic.

What terrifies me most of all is that I am one person, in one Primary Care Trust. A drop in an ocean. I change lives, I change futures. But without more posts like mine embedding best practice in doctors’ surgeries, training schools and encouraging parents to understand more about asthma the future looks bleak. This is why I do my job.

Asthma UK would like to see every doctor’s surgery with a Child Asthma Nurse Specialist post in place. I believe this is achievable, and know how many lives will be changed. Every Asthma Nurse Specialist post requires one year’s funding from Asthma UK which costs up to £40,000
-will you help by giving just £50 today?
I change lives -I change futures. Will you?


Yours sincerely,


Debby Waddell
Children’s Asthma UK Specialist Nurse

WHY IS ASTHMA UK OUR ADOPTED CHARITY?

Asthma is an illness that constricts the airways and makes breathing difficult. Approximately five and a half million people in the UK are currently receiving treatment for asthma and included in that number are some international hockey players.  The editor of TalkHockeyRadio is amongst the sufferers.

For some reason, asthma is common amongst athletes. A survey showed that 15% of the athletes taking part in the 1996 Olympic Games had been diagnosed as having asthma. The fact that some elite athletes are able to take part in their chosen sport demonstrates that for most sufferers it is not a debilitating illness. This is mainly thanks to some of the medicines that have been developed in recent years to help asthma sufferers live with the symptoms. However, there is still no cure for asthma.

Unfortunately, people die from asthma. Although the figures are falling, it is estimated that approximately 1500 people die of the illness in the UK every year. Sadly, it is believed that the vast majority of these deaths are preventable.

A donation to Asthma UK can help research into this illness and may save a life.  A small price to pay for a photograph?   

We recently received this letter written by an asthma nurse, Debby Waddell, from Asthma UK. We asked Asthma UK if we could reproduce the letter on our web site.  If you ever needed a reason to donate to Asthma UK you will find it here........

Asthma UK is our adopted charity