Every episode, even asthma, has the potential to be fatal.
That is made abundantly clear by the untimely and terrible passing of 12-year-old Ryan Gibbons.
Ryan was a lively young man who enjoyed riding motorcycles and going on hikes in the woods, but he would soon die from a deadly error.
He had an asthma attack at school back in 2012.
At the start of the incident, he could have easily utilized his inhaler, but the life-saving tool had been stolen.
Ryan Gibbons, a 12-year-old seventh-grader, attended school on October 9 as usual.
But he would not go home that day.
While playing soccer at school, Ryan had an asthma attack and couldn’t get to his rescue medication, which was kept in the school office.
The child in pain needed his inhaler to clear his airways so he could breathe.
However, spare inhalers were frequently taken away from Ryan because it was the school’s policy to keep the inhalers locked in the principal’s office.
During the attack, Ryan’s buddies attempted to take him to the office, but they were unable to reach the inhaler in time.
Ryan fainted and was never brought back to life.
A whole country was rocked by the catastrophe that happened at the Elgin Country School in Ontario, Canada.
An investigation revealed that, despite his mother’s persistent attempts and a doctor’s note, Ryan’s school did not permit him to keep his puffer with him.
In order to get around this regulation, Ryan would frequently carry an additional inhaler to school, according to his mother Sandra Gibbons.
Keeping the inhaler locked in a room is risky, because asthma attacks aren’t always anticipated.
However, the school continued to confiscate Ryan’s additional inhaler.
According to Ryan’s mother, she received multiple calls from the school requesting that she pick up an inhaler that Ryan had brought to class.
He was not permitted to take it home.
Sandra Gibbons told CBC, “You would give him an inhaler, but he would get caught with the inhaler and then it would be taken away.”
After that, I would receive a call. In fact, it was rather annoying. I couldn’t figure out why. I was unaware of the policy’s explicit requirement that the prescribed medication be kept in the office.
Thankfully, Ryan’s untimely demise wasn’t in vain.
Since Ryan’s passing, his mother has promised to do everything in her power to spare another family from experiencing what she did.
Sandra Gibbons started a petition after the funeral, urging all three parties to support Progressive Conservative Jeff Yurek’s private member’s bill, which calls on the Ontario government to require school boards to implement standardized asthma management plans.
The Ontario Lung Association
“It was like losing everything I lived for when Ryan died,” Gibbons said to Allergic Living. I realized this was an attack that could have been avoided when I buried my son. He would be here today, in my opinion, if people were properly trained and knew what to look for when a child was in distress.
Sandra’s goal was to alter the regulations that prevent children with asthma from carrying their life-saving equipment.
And soon her conscious struggle would generate results.
All parties in the legislature now support Bill 135—also known as Ryan’s Law.
With a doctor’s note, schools are required by law to let kids carry their inhalers in their pockets or backpacks.
Sandra Gibbons said, “I’m really emotional, overwhelmed, and happy that it’s going to be implemented.”
“It is crucial that children with asthma have easy access to potentially life-saving asthma medications while at school,” stated Dr. Rob Oliphant, president of the Asthma Society, which also praised the bill’s passing.
Every state in the U.S. has laws on the books that allow students to carry their asthma inhalers with them – at all times.
However, some kids are still being denied access to these lifesaving medications during the school day. Many schools ban inhalers through their blanket anti-drug policies.
Fatal asthma is a significant problem with more than 10 Americans dying each day from asthma.
Even though death rates have declined in the past decade, any asthma death is potentially preventable.
I’m so sorry to hear about Ryan’s story. I simply hate it when people don’t think and it’s heartbreaking!
But although Ryan’s history is very tragic, his fate became the decisive factor in changing the lives of thousands of children with asthma.
Without his mother’s struggle for justice, more tragic deaths would probably occur and I am happy that the politicians signed ”Ryan’s law”.
Let’s pass this article on to remember Ryan and to inform others about the risks of asthma patients not having close access to their inhaler.