Asthma UK Lifeline

From the moment we're born we instinctively want to breathe,

it's natural, it's what keeps us alive.

But some people can't even take that for granted.

I know about this because I'm asthmatic.

When I had an attack

it was one of the most terrifying moments of my life.

I got very frightened.

I was on a crowded street and I started to panic,

and that's the worst thing you can do.

Now, actually it's fine now. It's controlled by medicine

and as long as I do what the doctors tell me, it's not a problem.

But nearly 5½ million people suffer from asthma in the UK alone.

And 250,000 have severe asthma,

like 33-year-old Stacian.

From the age of six I really loved dancing, I really loved it.

When I was diagnosed, that's when everything stopped.

Aged 10, asthma changed Stacian's life completely.

I wasn't allowed to play out with the kids any more, like sports.

I had to limit everything I was doing.

It was really frustrating as a child, I just keep saying

"I want to be normal. Why can't I run like my brothers and sisters?"

Stacian's family had no choice but to restrict her,

as even limited exercise led to attacks.

Everything was affecting me, hay fever, strong-smelling chemicals,

I was having hospital admissions three, four times a week.

SHE BREATHES WITH DIFFICULTY

Two years ago, her attacks had become so serious that her

consultant felt it was time to break some very difficult news.

I was told that the hospital couldn't do anything for me

and I was going to die.

Any minute your next attack will definitely kill you.

At that point I was thinking of my dad,

he died at the age of 26 of asthma.

I start having flashbacks of when my dad used to lift me

and play games with me, and I could hear him wheezing and struggling,

and then I just started breaking down.

I did not want to die because I haven't even enjoyed my life.

For some people asthma can be a real burden.

That's why I'm appealing on behalf of Asthma UK,

a leading charity

that funds ground-breaking research hoping to find a cure,

but also helps sufferers, on a daily basis, handle their condition.

Now this work is absolutely vital

because every single day in the UK alone, three people die from asthma.

This is Annette, her daughter Sophie was diagnosed with asthma

when she was a young child, but with medication she coped fine.

Always had lots of friends knocking on the door

for her, loved to play out. She...

she just lived life to the full.

But when the family moved to a more rural area, everything changed.

Sophie deteriorated quite rapidly,

She was going to the hospital a lot more.

It was just so hard to see her struggling for air in some ways,

and struggling to breathe.

I can't believe how much pain or anything that she must have been in,

but she would never

tell us. She always said, "I'm OK."

Sophie's attacks were landing her in hospital much more frequently,

but nothing could have prepared the family for what would happen next.

Aged nine, Sophie had her final asthma attack.

It was sudden and all attempts to revive her failed.

We never

in a million years thought

she would ever die from the asthma,

and certainly not

at nine years of age.

We would have hoped that

if she was, it would have took her

a lot later on in life

rather than so young.

Nothing could ever bring back a loved one.

But I do believe that in future it should be possible

to save mothers like Annette

from experiencing such a devastating loss.

But that'll only happen if we can properly understand

the root causes of this all too common condition.

Thankfully, Asthma UK are funding research in laboratories

like this, at the MRC-Asthma UK Centre,

where scientists are dedicating themselves to unravelling

the mysteries of asthma, and finding new and more effective treatments.

I've been in asthma research for about 20 years,

and whilst there's been a very slow but steady accumulation of knowledge

during that period, I think we're at a really exciting time at the moment.

And I think over the next ten years, people will discover

all sorts of things about why people get asthma,

and we'll be able to design new treatments that are life-changing

for people with asthma.

But you get to a point where you need another injection of money

to be able to translate that in to new therapies,

and that's what we really need now.

Annette and her family had to come to terms with Sophie's death.

But the shadow that asthma had cast over their lives hasn't moved away.

About two years ago, our daughter Leah came in

and there was a bit of a wheeze and it took us by surprise really.

And all I could think of was, "Oh, no, please.

"I hope it's just an infection or something."

Doctors ran tests, and confirmed that Leah had asthma too.

I was absolutely devastated thinking, "Oh, no, could it happen again?"

Annette got in touch with Asthma UK

and is now able to draw on their wealth of knowledge

about how to manage Leah's condition.

Asthma UK has really helped us over the last few months

especially when we found their social media site through Facebook,

which will tell you how to manage your asthma,

if you think your asthma is not in control.

Leah has found that really helpful,

to explain to her that what happened to Sophie

isn't going to happen to everybody.

For Stacian, asthma was so debilitating

she was making funeral arrangements in her 20s.

But then she was thrown a lifeline.

A new drug that researchers had been developing in the lab

was made available to certain patients.

Before, I couldn't do normal activities of daily living,

but then I could walk to the bus stop,

I could get up and I could cook.

To me, research is really important

because if it wasn't for research finding this new treatment, Xolair,

I would not be here today.

The drug Xolair isn't a cure, and doesn't work for everyone,

but it has brought Stacian back from the brink.

It might take years, I might never live to see it,

but research might make a difference to someone's life

where they don't need to go through what I'm going through today.

250,000 people in the UK have asthma so severe

that current treatments can't help them.

Asthma research can give these people hope for the future

by searching for new treatments

that could give them a good quality of life,

free from the fear of dying in the next attack.

With your help, it can.

Please go to the website...

...where you can donate.

If you don't have access to

the internet then call 0800 011 011.

And if you can't get through,

please, please, please keep trying.

You can also donate £10

by texting DONATE to 70121.

Texts cost £10 plus your

standard network message charge

and the whole £10 goes to ASTHMA UK.

Full terms and conditions can

be found at bbc.co.uk/lifeline.

Telephone calls are free

from most landlines.

Some networks and mobile operators

will charge for these calls.

Or if you'd like to post a donation,

please make your cheque payable

to ASTHMA UK and send it to

Freepost, BBC Lifeline Appeal,

writing ASTHMA UK

on the back of the envelope.

And if you want the charity

to claim Gift Aid on your donation,

please include an email

or postal address,

so that they can send you

a Gift Aid form.

Thank you.