Recently I shared a link to a story my brother wrote. It was about me living my life with severe asthma. He is a journalist with the Daily Record and is doing some pieces on asthma, smoking on hospital sites (one of my hobby horses) and some other things.
(I apparently don’t have many photos of us together so this will have to do. Taking me off the ward when in hospital. I was lucky to get back to the ward alive with his driving of the hospital wheelchair!!)
I wanted to ask him a few questions (it turned out to literally be a few) on why he wanted to do a piece about me and my story of living with severe asthma. I am really proud of him for doing this especially as asthma is destroying so many peoples lives yet asthma is dismissed and not thought to be that serious by the majority of the population.
Below is his answers to my questions!
Why did you want to do the piece?
Without a doubt it was from seeing what you have gone through over the years, particularly in the last few when I have been around it more. It’s really not a well-understood condition from a layman’s point of view. People just think it’s ‘a bad cough’ or getting out of breathe when you play sport, but nobody sees the sinister way it can affect someone’s life.
Health stories are such a massive and important part of the media, particularly in how it can help activism and help push the conversation surrounding policy. I don’t think asthma gets the coverage it deserves. Talking to people who face a daily struggle with illness and putting their journeys in the public eye helps others open up and deal with their own conditions. But asthma suffers don’t have that voice like other illnesses like cancer or MS. Obviously as your annoying wee brother I have seen you at your best and worst with asthma, and it’s so inspiring. I wanted your journey to help others above all else.
On the other hand, it was so important to include the work you do behind the scenes for Asthma UK and other charities. Covering topics like correct techniques for taking medication and attitudes towards asthma help stimulate conversation, even on a day-to-day basis, from a light natter over Sunday lunch to discussions between health professionals.
How did covering the story affect your understanding of asthma?
Without a shadow of a doubt the amount of medication someone with severe asthma – and knock-on conditions – must take on a daily basis. I knew your asthma was bad through years of hospital visits and attacks, as well as using it to my advantage to beat you at golf (still not sorry). That hit home in a big way when you were placed on a ventilator recently – it was actually what prompted me to want to do the story. So I guess you could say that I knew how bad it could get before doing the piece, but only just before I sat down to write it.
But the medication routine was what really hit me hard. The sheer volume of treatments you have to take every single day was staggering, and shocked many of my colleagues. Knowing how you still get on with your life, throw yourself into activism and sport wherever you can, makes that even more staggering. To be taking 38 treatments daily at the age of 33 is mind blowing. I think getting that across to people really helps them to take it just as seriously as other, more talked about conditions
ANONYMOUS-ASTHMA 