Kim Tennant has spent most of her life trying not to get out of breath, petrified it could seal her fate.
Aged 11, she was diagnosed with asthma after inhaling cigarette smoke at a social club, which saw her hospitalised following an attack. When she came to have children of her own, the 52-year-old then feared the same for her children, two of whom were also diagnosed with asthma.
But her dread became a horrifying reality when her eldest daughter Ellie, then 14, almost died three days after a house move. And just six years later, Kim was left fighting for her life in hospital in similar circumstances.
Just like her mum, Ellie's triggers are stress and dust. Kim recalled to the Mirror: "Ellie came into my room at 5.30am, and I could see instantly that she was really struggling to breathe. The dust of the packing boxes had aggravated her."
As someone well-versed in asthma management, Kim gave Ellie 10 puffs of her reliever inhaler, and when this didn't work, called an ambulance. Moments later, Ellie collapsed in Kim's arms.
"Her eyes had gone to the back of her head, and she wasn't breathing," said Kim, her voice cracking as she revisits the unbearable terror of that morning. For the next eight minutes, Kim, a trained first aider, performed CPR on her lifeless child as she waited for the ambulance to arrive.
Her calm focus undoubtedly saved Ellie's life, but the asthma attack had put the teen into cardiac arrest. Once she arrived at hospital, Kim and her husband James were tragically told that she was in a critical condition and might not survive. But after a week of treatment, she was stable enough to leave intensive care, and began to pull through.
Ellie, now 22 with a young son, has controlled her asthma since by scrupulously following her asthma action plan – a written account of what to do to stay well with her asthma. But the teenage attack has left the young mum with memory difficulties and has had a lasting impact on the whole family.
In a cruel twist of fate, it was during another house move, where there was lots of dust generated by packing crates, that Kim also had a life-threatening asthma attack in October 2021. "I was incredibly stressed, there were boxes everywhere, and I was trying to fight off a very nasty chest infection, which later developed into pneumonia. It really was the perfect asthma storm," Kim explained.
Like Ellie, Kim also ended up being rushed to hospital. James was called into the high-dependency unit as her life hung terrifyingly in the balance. "I remember lying there, struggling for every difficult breath, and convincing myself that I would never see my family again," said Kim.
"I just felt too young to die and vowed to make huge changes to my life if I survived." Fortunately, she survived. But over the next six months, she was put on steroid tablets to reduce inflammation in the airways.
For many people with asthma, steroids are an incredible lifeline for keeping their symptoms under control, but for some people, they can come with side effects, and for Kim, this meant putting on a considerable amount of weight. As her breathing improved, and she came off the steroids, Kim made it her mission to get fit, despite her fear of breathlessness.
The mum-of-five took up running, and this year, fulfilled her lifelong dream of running the London marathon. Since starting her new exercise regime, Kim has shed an incredbible four stone.
Today on World Asthma Day, Kim, the hairdresser wants to share her story to show how serious asthma can be – but also to encourage the 7.2 million people living with the condition to get more active, where possible, and to get to know and manage their triggers. "I began exercising very gradually with weighted hula hooping indoors," she explained.
"As a motivation, I joined TikTok to keep myself accountable where I gained followers, many of them who had asthma themselves. I then graduated from short, slow walks to 12,000 steps a day."
Kim initially struggled when she started the Couch to 5K programme 18 months ago, but now runs 17 or 18 miles a week. She said: "Starting out was difficult, but I really listened to my body, and the more my energy increased the better my breathing became. I'd always believed that I couldn't exercise because I had asthma but now, I can see that I was completely wrong."
Talking about her diagnosis and her first asthma attack, Kim said: "I honestly thought I was going to die. After that, I felt I couldn't be active as exercise exacerbated my asthma and PE was a struggle for me. It was a shame because I'd always dreamt of one day running a marathon."
Although she was put on a preventer inhaler, and had regular reviews with her GP, stress aggravated Kim's asthma, which made school exams a nightmare as she was always so ill. Perfumes and deodorants were also triggers, as was dust, pollen, and cigarette smoke, and as the years passed, Kim, who is originally from Manchester - one of the most polluted parts of the country - found that traffic fumes made her asthma worse. So much so, that some years ago, the family moved to North Yorkshire for better air quality.
Around 200,000 people in the UK have severe asthma, about four in every hundred people with an asthma diagnosis. Typically, it is difficult to control, even with extensive medication, and people with severe asthma are at increased risk of life-threatening asthma attacks.
Dr Andy Whittamore, clinical lead at Asthma + Lung UK, and a practising GP, said: "For most people with asthma, staying active brings many health benefits. Importantly, it makes the lungs more efficient so that you can get oxygen in better. It also improves how the muscles use the oxygen meaning that you are less likely to get out of breath performing everyday tasks and activities.
"Exercise is useful for helping to treat anxiety, depression, and poor sleep too, and can have positive effects on the immune system." According to Dr Whittamore, you should always carry your reliever or MART inhaler with you whilst exercising.
If exercise triggers your symptoms, it could be a sign that your asthma is not as well controlled as it should be. He also recommends making sure you take your preventer inhaler daily.
He stressed: "Download an asthma action plan and ask your GP or asthma nurse to complete it with you. Make sure they watch you take your inhaler to ensure you are getting the right amount of medication to your lungs. We have videos on our website that can help with inhaler technique too."
For Kim, there has been no looking back since she decided to get active. "I feel fantastic. Running the London Marathon really was a dream come true," she added. "Although I'll admit, the last four or five miles were torture – I was crying as I passed that finish line. But after everything I've gone through, it really was one of the proudest, most euphoric moments of my life."
What to do in an asthma attack
1. Sit up straight and try to keep calm.
2. Take one puff of your reliever inhaler (usually blue) every 30-60 seconds, up to 10 puffs.
3. If you feel worse, call 999 for ambulance.
4. If the ambulance does not arrive after 10 minutes, take another 10 puffs of your reliever every 30-60 seconds.
5. Then if no improvement repeat, and contact 999 again.
(If you are on a MART inhaler regime, separate asthma attack advice is available on the charity's website).
Kim ran the London Marathon for Asthma + Lung UK and you can donate to her fundraising page here. (https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/Kim-Tennant1 ). For more information on asthma triggers, and to download an asthma action plan, visit www.asthmaandlung.org.uk or call the charity’s helpline on 0300 222 5800.