Asthma and every attack have the potential to be life-threatening.
The sudden and tragic death of 12-year-old Ryan Gibbons is a stark reminder of that.
Ryan was an energetic boy who loved motorbikes and hiking in the woods – but a fatal mistake would soon take his life.
Back in 2012, he suffered an asthma attack at school.
He could have simply used his inhaler at the beginning of the episode, but the life-saving device had been taken from him.
On October 9, 12-year-old grade 7 student Ryan Gibbons went to school – just like any other day
However, that day he wouldn’t return home.
Ryan suffered an asthma attack while playing soccer in school and was unable to reach his rescue medication, which was locked in the school office.
The suffering boy needed his inhaler to open his airways and allow him to breathe.
But it was his school’s policy to keep the inhalers locked in the principal’s office and spare inhalers were repeatedly confiscated from Ryan.
A group of Ryan’s friends tried to carry him to the office during the attack, but the boys couldn’t get to the inhaler in time.
Ryan passed out and never was revived.
The tragedy occurred at the Elgin Country School in Ontario, Canada, and shook a whole nation.
After an investigation, it became clear that Ryan’s school didn’t allow him to keep his puffer with him, despite repeated efforts by his mother and a doctor’s note.
According to his mother, Sandra Gibbons, Ryan would often bring an extra inhaler to school in order to bypass this rule.
Asthma attacks aren’t always predictable, and it is dangerous to keep the inhaler locked in a room.
But the school kept taking Ryan’s extra inhaler away.