Shropshire families call for more asthma awareness

Gemma and Ashley Brown have been raising awareness about the illness after their two-year-old son, Cameron Brown, died in 2008.

The couple, who believe their son could have survived had they been given more support and advice, say they are angry more is not being done to alert sufferers to dangers.

They set up Cameron's Fund as a tribute to their son, to raise money Asthma UK and to highlight the hidden dangers of asthma.

And the family of Sarah Carter Edwards have also joined a growing campaign for better education and free medication for asthma sufferers.

Sarah suffered a huge asthma attack and died, aged 21, after walking in near freezing temperatures to The Hippodrome pub in Market Drayton in December 2012.

It was the contrast of the warm air of the pub that triggered the attack and she died in the early hours of the following morning, despite the efforts of paramedics.

But despite such tragedies, a new national study into asthma deaths has revealed that people suffering from the illness were still dying unnecessarily because of complacency among both medical staff and patients.

Researchers found that in nearly half of the cases they looked at, asthma sufferers did not receive any medical help during their final attack.

The National Review of Asthma Deaths said sufferers and medics must be better at recognising the danger signs.

Sarah's mum Karen Edwards, of Pickstock, near Newport, said: "Asthma is something that can kill and can kill very quickly. In the majority of these cases it's avoidable.

"There's just a complete lack of public awareness around the potential dangers of asthma.

"Patients need to be reminded of the various triggers at different times of year as it is easy for them to become complacent.

"Had there been an awareness campaign in the media and perhaps posters in surgeries when Sarah went for her flu jab, warning that patients should take extra precautions to cover their mouths in cold, then perhaps Sarah would have chosen not to walk out that night or to ensure she covered her mouth to prevent the damp cold air entering her lungs.

"There should be a respiratory nurse in each practice and a care plan should be in place for each patient.

"They need to have emergency inhalers in schools and teachers need to know what to do with them.

"People have to pay for prescriptions. Some students are dicing with deaths by not paying for their inhalers.

"All asthma medication should be free."

Karen, along with Sarah's stepfather Nick Edwards, has joined a campaign group set up by Asthma UK to petition health minister Jeremy Hunt.

They have also secured a meeting in the House of Commons on June 25 to debate the issue and demand change.

"With the publicity of the review of asthma deaths that's started to raise some awareness," said Karen.

"The Government know that they have to take action."

Tomorrow (SUN) four people will run the Market Drayton 10k in memory of Sarah and to raise awareness of Asthma UK.

Her father, Malcolm Carter, has set up the Sarah Carter Edwards Trust in her memory, which raises money for community groups and organisations in North Shropshire.

Gemma and Ashley Brown, who have raised a landmark £50,000 for Asthma UK, have pledged to continue fundraising to keep their son's memory alive.

They also have two sons, Matthew, five, and Jason, two, who also both suffer from asthma, which means the illness is still very much in their minds.

Gemma said: "From our point of view we are very disappointed people are still dying unnecessarily.

"It means we need to keep raising awareness as much as possible.

"We would urge people people to look at all the information on the Asthma UK website because there is loads of great information and resources on there, which is all free.

"We have always felt if Cameron had been given better all round care things could have worked out differently."

Bridgnorth Medical Practice will also run a series of workshops this week to give visitors more information about asthma.

Asthma UK will have a stand at the medical centre on May 17, as part of a open day, which will run from 10am until.

In the UK, three people die from asthma every day and every 10 seconds someone suffers from a potentially life-threatening attack.

Experts from the Royal College of Physicians (RCP) examined 195 asthma deaths, including 28 children.

They identified at least one "major potential avoidable factor" in 67 per cent of the cases.

The review found that many of the patients who died had excessively used their reliever inhalers in the months running up to their deaths - indicating that they were not managing their disease well.

Medics should have spotted that they were repeatedly prescribing these inhalers and taken action, the authors of the damning report said.

Meanwhile one in 10 of those who died had been admitted to hospital for an acute asthma attack within four weeks of their death.

Asthma UK described the errors "horrifying".

Information on asthma is available at www.asthma.org.uk