#aworldthatcanbreathe

Today I met Ron and Linda MacDonald, the parents of Lydia MacDonald who tragically died from an asthma attack in June this year. I remember reading about this in the newspapers as Lydia’s wee boy was left in her flat for a few days after she died. At the time of reading I thought ‘not another one’. Another one being another person who has died as a result of an asthma attack. I felt for her parents at the time as no parent should loose their children.

Rather than sit back and do nothing, Lydia’s parents have set off on a campaign to both raise the profile of asthma and how dangerous it can be but also to fundraise for vital research which is chronically under funded. I am totally in awe of their strength, as in a few shorts months they have achieved so much awareness and want to continue with this.

I am so glad to have met Lydia’s parents- I was a bit apprehensive as asthma is a subject very close to my heart and one I can get very upset about as feel it has taken so much away from me. I was not sure if I would be able to keep my emotions in check. Part of me thought I shouldn’t show my emotions as I am still here. I still have my family- parents, brothers, sister, grandparents, nephew and niece whereas Lydia’s parent don’t have her and her son doesn’t have a mum. It is heart breaking thinking that. To know that someone so full of life had it all taken away.

So many things that both parents said resonated with me a few of them are:

• there are so many different types of asthma
• no one really gets how bad asthma can be not even friends
• despite having bad asthma wanting independance
• unless you have suffered an asthma attack you have no way of knowing how terrifying it really is
• its not just asthma
• asthma kills far too many people

These are just a few things but these are the things which people need to read and take on board to stop more families going through what Lydia’s family have and are going through.

I briefly had a look at the page called Lydia MacDonald Tribute fund for Asthma Research UK on Facebook and already the plans and party in the future appears to be gaining momentum and there are a huge number of comments in support. I will endeavour to support or help in anyway I can to raise funds or awareness about asthma. Lydia’s parents mentioned about getting all the communities together to one huge event with everyone working together as it is all for the same cause.

A phrase I heard several times from Lydia’s mother was that she just wants to to help make it a world where you can breathe. I am not sure if this the tagline so to speak for what they are doing but I have used it as a hashtag in my twitter when tweeting and also on various other social media sites to raise the profile of what Lydia’s parents are doing for people with asthma. The hashtag is:

#aworldthatcanbreathe