The AAIR Charity

Our Story

	Our Stories - Childhood Allergies Severe childhood allergies can be upsetting and frightening - not just for the young sufferers but for parents too... (more)
	MY STORY - Professor Stephen Holgate Looking back now, I suppose my career started when I was 16 years old. I lived in Disley, Cheshire with my parents, brother and sister... (more)
	A Special Evening to Remember Neil Barfoot The spectacular National Motor Museum at Beaulieu provided the perfect and unique setting for the very special AAIR Motor Sport Dinner and Auction in memory of Neil Barfoot, who died following an asthma attack... (more)
	Joan Whitcher AAIR supporter Joan Whitcher has raised over £10,000 for asthma and allergy research since she was diagnosed with late-onset asthma... (more)
	My Story Simon Griffiths’ 2008 London Triathlon ended when his young son had a sudden anaphylactic shock. But 2009 saw him return and raise money for AAIR... (more)
	My Story It has been almost two years since Claire Duffus took on the new role of Asthma and Allergy Clinical Nurse Specialist at Southampton General Hospital. Since then Claire and a staff nurse have helped many asthma and allergy sufferers in Hampshire... (more)
	My Story Adonai Agnello and friends have set up their Justgiving page to raise Ł10,000 in memory of Leigh Mabbett who died following an asthma attack in March 2009 aged just 34... (more)
	My Story Martin Zepler has had asthma since he was 7 years-old. He is now 44 and has learned how to manage his condition so he can enjoy life to the full... (more)
	Allergic to Food Samuel Pettitt is a healthy 16-year old who enjoys his food like anyone else. But it wasn’t always like that. As a baby boy Samuel had severe allergic reactions to an endless list of foods and suffered his first anaphylactic shock when he was just 15 months old... (more)
	My Story Victoria Foss, an effervescent 22 year old graduate from the University of Winchester, was completing her teaching training with Portsmouth SCITT when she died from an acute asthma attack on the 3rd March 2008. Her Father. Nigel explains why the AWARE BEAR Project will ensure Vikki's memory will live on... (more)
	Our Story Ray Williams, 62, from Hampshire, has taken part in 4 asthma trials. He donated the fee from his last trial to AAIR... (more)
	My Story Namrata, Manoj and Aarti Panchmatia lost Anuj, their precious son and brother, to asthma three years ago. This is their story... (more)

Our Stories - Childhood Allergies
Severe childhood allergies can be upsetting and frightening - not just for the young sufferers but for parents too. Enabling children to understand and accept their allergies is an important part of living with their condition. But two parents who have found that getting support for their children and advice in dealing with all the associated problems, worries and issues isn’t easy. Both met on Mumsnet and finally contacted AAIR in their search for help.
Sarah Cooper, from London, started a thread on Mumsnet seeking advice for ways to help her four-year-old son Daniel, who is severely allergic to nuts, sesame oil, peas, lentils, celery, mustard, poppy seeds, all dairy and is anaphylactic to several animals.

Sarah said: “No one really knows what it is like for children with severe allergies. To appreciate the restrictions and difficulties you have to live with them. My son is a foodie, he loves food but often has to sit and watch everyone else eat. He can’t feed the ducks, if the animal farm comes to nursery Daniel has to stay at home, if there is a birthday party he is the one who never gets to eat the birthday cake, he can’t have a sweet treat like the rest of the class - it goes on and on.
It is a massive issue, Daniel hates his allergies. Understandably he is sometimes angry and has phases of bad behaviour because of it. I have found him stabbing the floor with his EpiPen and he has put spent ones back in the bag without me knowing. I have to make allowances, I can’t just say ‘don’t be silly’ I tell him it is okay to be angry but sometimes I wonder if I am saying the right thing, if I’m doing right for wrong. Making it worse or better.
I see a lot of parents wrap their children in cotton wool; they home educate, have packed lunches wherever they go and only self-cater on holiday. I can completely understand but I try to ensure Daniel has a very normal life. He has school dinners and we eat out but it is very difficult and I have to be massively organised. Because I know the dangers I can manage the situation but I worry about what may happen when I’m not there. I am always absolutely panic stricken when he has a severe allergic reaction.
I went on Mumsnet because I’d read all the books, seen nutritionists and specialist but no one could give Daniel or my family psychological support, to show us how to cope. In many cases I felt I was teaching them.
Children with severe anaphylaxis have so much to deal with - carrying EpiPens, avoiding foods and situations, it can create socializing and confidence problems. They are different, they have so many challenges yet there seems to be no support for them. No-one to explain that their feelings are normal or show them what they should do or say. Witnessing an anaphylaxis shock is terrifying yet here is no post-traumatic support for parents.
It's hardly surprising that kids with severe allergies can become rather angry and rebel or go off the rails as they get older. I feel psychological support for children with severe allergies and their families is a must and would like to urge the Government to please provide funding for this essential service."

Jai Barber joined Sarah's thread on Mumsnet after her son, Tomas, developed unexplained and late onset allergies. Jai contacted AAIR in desperation she said: “As these children reach school age they start to notice they are ‘different’. We have discovered there is counselling for children with diabetes with regards to food and coping with their diet and condition but we can’t find anything similar for allergic children. Tomas has had some frightening reactions. Six hours after having lunch his throat and face were swollen and covered with hives and for three weeks during April his eyes were constantly swollen and he lost voice whenever he went outside. He can’t just go to a birthday party and relax, he sometimes gets nervous when next to certain some foods because he knows it could trigger a reaction. When you see your child’s terror every day it is heart-breaking yet there is no special psychological care, these children can really suffer socially.”
Child allergy Nurse Rosie King has chosen to specialise in this area, undertaking her own research and offering counselling/support) at the Southampton General Hospital NHS allergy clinic.
Rosie said: “I have studied families where the younger sibling has food allergies and our team is very aware of the problems facing these youngster and their parents. These two ladies are perfectly right and I really feel for them. It is our dream to be able to offer the back up of a psychology team in all the clinics but it is hugely costly and unfortunately allergy is very poorly funded so there is just no money for this type of support.
Some families find it really difficult living with food allergy, we are very aware of these issues so our diagnosis is followed up with strategies to help. These children have to accept that their allergy is part of them and from a young age they have to be very up front to explain what they can and cannot eat and they have to be quite strong about it. They can’t afford to be shy.
Each age group also has different needs and problems, for example around five can be a very stressful time with issues such as mother-child separation anxiety. We also now know youngsters aged between 15 to 25 are most likely to be at the risk taking phase, where youngsters begin experimenting. They perceive risk in different ways, what a parent may consider to be very risky may seem perfectly run of the mill to them."

MY STORY - Professor Stephen Holgate
Looking back now, I suppose my career started when I was 16 years old. I lived in Disley, Cheshire with my parents, brother and sister. I went to school at King Edwards VI direct grant grammar school and each morning on the way there I passed ICI (the former Pharmaceuticals and Chemicals Company) when I took the steam train to school. It was the people there who originally inspired me, at a careers day. After speaking with them I knew I wanted to get into chemistry or the pharmaceutical industry. But they advised me to go to medical school first and then perhaps specialise in biochemistry later, if I was still interested. That was an important step for me. I followed their advice in that I was fortunate to get a place at Charing Cross Hospital (in those days in Chandos Place, near Trafalgar Square) where one of my distant relatives once worked (Christopher Addison of Addison’s plane, a surface marking for appendix surgery). This was useful because I was asked at my interview whether I had a relative in medicine. It turned out that Christopher Addison helped establish the Medical Research Committee in 1913, later to be renamed the Medical Research Council (MRC) in 1920.

I had the good fortune to undertake an intercollegiate BSc in Biochemistry after my first 2 years that reawakened my interest in research but I didn’t return to this until two years after I finished my medical training. It was the mid to late 60’s and biochemistry and pharmacology was getting very exciting. I left London and came to Salisbury for a year as a medical register where I had a rotation every Tuesday to the Western Hospital in Southampton, previously a small hospital for infectious diseases and then a Chest Hospital. The people there were all very encouraging and enabled me to undertake a research degree (MD) in the field of asthma. This was directed towards understanding the mechanisms of asthma death that had peaked at that time due to overreliance on inhaled bronchodilator treatment that was freely available.
I did my specialist training in general and respiratory medicine at Southampton between 1975 and 1979 and here I was greatly influenced by Professor Jack Howell the Foundation Professor of Medicine at the new Southampton Medical School.

He encouraged me greatly to continue to pursue research and my big break came in my mid 30’s when I won an MRC scholarship to undertake research with Dr K Frank Austen, an eminent researcher in inflammation and allergy at the Robert B Brigham Hospital, Harvard Medical School in Boston, US. Travel abroad at that time was limited, so it was a big deal to work in America greatly encouraged by my family, especially my wife Elizabeth. At that time we had two small children and so we all went together. It was liberating to go away for two years; it changes you, makes you think much more about what you want to do with your life. We rented an apartment in Boston close to the Medical School and I spent two years working alongside brilliant people from all over the world who did nothing but inspire me. It was wonderful.
Back in the 70’s, keeping research alive was the critical thing. Funding was very limited and the UK was in one of its financially difficult periods. Those two years in Boston gave me the confidence to come back to Southampton in 1980 in order to build up a basic and clinical research group focused on trying to understand the basis of asthma and how we could improve its diagnosis and treatment. In fact the last 30 years have been spent trying to do that!
Things got moving quickly after Boston. We had two more children and settled in Highfield. I had several first-rate UK and overseas postdoctoral students that enabled me to build up research. When you have the best and brightest people coming together when they are young and enthusiastic great things happen. For example, with David Tyrell FRS as Director of the Common Cold Unit in Salisbury (interestingly at the old US Harvard Hospital that I used to pass regularly while living in Salisbury) we discovered that common cold viruses were the main cause of acute severe asthma attacks both in children and adults.
A further major step forward for me came in 1987 with the encouragement of Dame Barbara Clayton, then Dean of the Medical School, when I was awarded an MRC professorship - amazing really. It made a huge difference. The University still employed me but my salary was now paid by the MRC so I could drop intensive clinical and teaching work and spend more of my time in research. I was able to recruit and build up research into viruses, air pollution, chemical and medical allergies. It all happened at a very significant time. Professor Jack Howell had an interest in asthma and its treatment and was the first person to show that the new anti-allergic drug sodium chromoglicate (Intal) was effective as a preventer treatment for asthma. This was a drug originally discovered by Roger Altounyan at Fisons in Loughborough. Roger was another inspirational individual whom I regularly visited during my early research days for guidance as we dug deeper into the causes of asthma.

Working and carrying out research alongside real patients has always been the most import thing for me. Southampton offered the facilities for true translation work (research for patient benefit), that’s why in more than 30 years I never left and now this has turned into something really big in the UK.
I never had my career mapped out though. It’s much more structured now but it wasn’t like that in the early days, it was all rather chancy. You got one job, and then another as opportunities presented themselves. There was no particular career track. You had to fight, but at the same time it was wonderful. I was delighted by the sense of freedom, to pursue what I wanted to do. Along the way I met so many people who inspired me and whom were instrumental in my career, some of whom I have already referred to.

One individual I should like to express particular thanks to is Professor Margaret Turner-Warwick whom inspired my interest in chest disease as a spciality while I was working at the Brompton Hospital before moving to Salisbury. Also Dr Peter Gillam, a general and respiratory physician at Salisbury General Infirmary (then on Fisherton Street) who encouraged me in research and to get my first medical papers published.

Up until the early 1990’s most of my research was directed to understanding the role of allergic inflammation in asthma and good progress was made in large part through terrific collaboration with Martin Church, a pharmacologist in Southampton who also had an interest in allergy and Andrew Walls who joined us from the Brompton Hospital when I was awarded my MRC Chair. However, it soon became apparent that factors other than allergy were driving asthma (e.g. viruses, pollution etc). I was most fortunate to meeting Dr Donna Davies in the late 1990’s. Donna had been working on lining cells involved in gut cancers and the factors that made them proliferate. Because of changes in cancer research in Southampton, she decided to change her research in the direction of studying the lung’s lining cells (epithelial cells).

Together we went on to show that epithelial cells in asthma were much more sensitive to common cold viruses and air pollutants and that this led to the airways behaving like a chronic wound that did not heal properly. This led us into studying The mechanisms of severe asthma and remodelling of the airways that occurs in chronic disease.
And so here we are. I began in asthma and allergy and it’s still my passion. But I have pulled back from the front because I want Southampton to stay vibrant. Research is for the young and enthusiastic who have brilliant ideas and the courage to pursue them. The new generation, led by people like Dr Peter Howarth and John Holloway, Professors Ratko Djukanovic, Donna Davies, Hasan Arshad, Andrew Walls and Graham Roberts are doing great stuff. But the real success of the department is due to a team approach. It’s not because of one single person, it’s everyone; the nurses, technicians, doctors, scientist and of course the patients. As Southampton Respiratory Research goes from strength to strength, my work now is more with the MRC and the Funding Councils of our Universities, chairing panels and overseeing clinical research to keep the UK at the forefront.
I’ve enjoyed many highs. Discovering the common cold virus as a cause of severe asthma attacks was definitely a first, defining the role of air pollution in asthma, being involved in the discovery of the first new asthma gene ADAM33, and in 1997, winning the King Faisal International Prize in Medicine. And of course the CBE - that was a bit of a surprise and it was incredibly nice that it was for clinical science which I am a passionate believer in. Going to Windsor Castle with my wonderful family and meeting The Queen will be a memory that I will cherish forever. However, my most cherished reward has been seeing the careers of researchers from this Country and across the world, who spent time in Southampton with me, flourish to become real leaders themselves. It is like a world-wide extended family!
There have been career lows too, when your research is not going as expected and you have to change direction which can be difficult because you don’t have the money or backing. That’s partly why I co-founded the AAIR Charity in 1988. And this is where it really came into its own, to allow us to pursue different research. It has been instrumental in our great successes at Southampton. It was also a major stimulus for me to form with colleagues the University Spin Out Company, Synairgen that continues to do well.

So here we are - 35 years after it all started. I am proud that Britain is at the forefront of asthma and allergy research and that the Southampton Unit is in the top five worldwide. A lot of asthma treatment has come out of the research from those 30 years and I really do now think the current research here will result in a cure for asthma. It has been incredible journey; I have no regrets, much to be thankful for and so many people to thank, but especially Elizabeth and our for children, Matthew, Edmund, Katharine and Michael who have all stood behind me to encourage me on this extraordinary journey of discovery.
PROFESSOR STEPHEN HOLGATE, CBE.
AAIR Chairman and co-founder Professor Stephen Holgate has enjoyed a distinguished 35 year career in asthma and allergy research. The professor of immunopharmacology has published more than 900 peer-reviewed papers and scientific contributions to journals and edited 50 books on asthma. He is a key member of the Medical Research Council, advises the government on a range of issues including air pollution and was recently appointed by the Higher Education Funding Council to be a main panel chair for the Research Excellence Framework - a prestigious role assessing the quality of research in UK universities.

Professor Holgate’s outstanding contribution is recognised world-word but most recently attracted a very special accolade - a CBE for services to clinical science. Here Professor Holgate looks back on his remarkable career.

A Special Evening to Remember Neil Barfoot
The spectacular National Motor Museum at Beaulieu provided the perfect and unique setting for the very special AAIR Motor Sport Dinner and Auction in memory of Neil Barfoot, who died following an asthma attack.
The spectacular National Motor Museum at Beaulieu provided the perfect and unique setting for the very special AAIR Motor Sport Dinner and Auction in memory of Neil Barfoot, who died following an asthma attack.
Around 150 attended the evening to help raise over £9,000 for asthma research, a record for any AAIR fund-raising event! Guests of honour were Neil’s father, Lee and his wife, who had donated many of the items for the auction. Here Lee talks about why the event took place and how he felt on this memorable and special occasion.
“As a baby Neil had a lot of health problems, by the time he was 18-months-old he had undergone several operations including one to separate his trachea and oesophagus. He had developed something called a Tof Cough but asthma was not showing until he was 4 or 5 years old. Although he had some quite serious coughing attacks he was a very happy-go-lucky little chap. He always carried his inhalers and by the time he was around 9-years-old his attacks were calming down and he seemed to be growing out of it.
But then in August 1995, when Neil was 18, he had a fatal asthma attack. Neil had been travelling to his part-time job as a barman at Cadnam when it happened. It was during a long, hot summer with very high pollen count. Doctors thought it was this combination of heat and tree pollen which had triggered Neil’s asthma attack.
Soon after Neil died his mum returned a signed Ayrton Senna photo I had given to Neil when he was a lad. As a boy I'd always loved motor racing and had a passion for collecting autographs. My father had given me a book called Grand Prix Winners and I stuck the photo inside the front cover. Coincidentally soon after I went to a couple of motor sport events where there were a few personalities and drivers so I asked them to sign the book too. One of them was Murray Walker who asked what I was going to do with the book. I just had 4 signatures then but I said I'd probably donate it to charity.
Then it just snowballed. Over the years my wife and I enjoyed attending events like the Goodwood Revival and Festival of Speed and would always take the book to get it signed. It was fabulous in the early days, all the drivers would just wander through the crowds so it was quite easy to get autographs. It was always a joint effort though. My wife was great at spotting the celebrities and I was good at muscling through the crowds and getting the signatures. There were so many drivers and people from the sport there. I gradually acquired items of memorabilia too, one year I took along a red Ferrari cap I had given to me by a chap I worked with and when I saw Niki Lauda and asked him to sign it, he didn’t mind at all, was such a nice guy.

When I first handed over the items to AAIR; all the books, the photos and signatures I thought ‘That’s it now. I’m done!’ But it didn’t look much all stacked up on the dining room table. I couldn’t imagine how it would make up an auction.
On the day of the event I had real reservations. I wasn’t sure how I would feel and I had visions of just a few people turning up and no one being interested in the auction. But when I saw all the auction items laid out, framed and mounted they looked amazing. My wife and I were absolutely thrilled. The team at AAIR put in so much effort into organising the auction and entertainment and the museum looked fantastic. I couldn’t imagine a better venue and it was great to see so many people prepared to spend their hard-earned cash to support such a worthy cause. I personally was humbled that so many other items were donated by people I've never met to augment my Formula One memorabilia and that the overall outcome was a fantastic amount of money raised to help in the fight against asthma.
Asthma took my son but when Neil died and the Ayrton Senna photo came back to me it also started off 15 year collection, culminating in this very special event on Saturday which I hope will help other people with asthma.
The auction raised £6,760, with Lee’s signed book ‘Grand Prix Winners’ raising an incredible £2,000 and the framed Niki Lauda cap going under the hammer for £450.
AAIR would like to sincerely thank Evajean and Lee as well as all those who supported the evening, including: those donated auction and raffle items, the hosts: Damien Smith, Will Cope, Doug Hill & Guy Loveridge, table magicians Roger Lapkin, saxophonist David Cole and out event sponsors Meachers Global Logistics, whose sponsorship made the event possible.

Joan Whitcher
AAIR supporter Joan Whitcher has raised over £10,000 for asthma and allergy research since she was diagnosed with late-onset asthma.
My late-onset asthma was triggered by a common cold which developed into a lung virus and then into asthma. As it progressed I felt quite ill; I was struggling to breathe and suffered terrible coughing and wheezing. Although I spent some time in intensive care they couldn’t get it under control so eventually I went to see AAIR’s asthma specialist Dr Howarth. That appointment was 25 years ago and I haven’t looked back since.
It took a good 12 months but eventually Dr Howarth managed to get my asthma controlled through medication. I still had some severe episodes which meant loads of hospital stays - it wasn't unusual to be admitted up to 10 times a year. After a few years I had a lung laruage to wash out my lungs and so my condition began to slightly improve again. I also had a portacath inserted in my chest to deliver medication, such as antibiotics without me having to go into hospital.
I used to be a very active person, I loved cycling, netball and walking but I had to take things much more slowly. Although holidays and weddings were spoilt when I’d end up as an emergency in-patient in hospital with chest infections, I was determined not to let asthma ruin my life.
It was the staff on D2 ward at Southampton General Hospital who helped me to come to terms with my condition. Partly because of their help I decided I wanted something positive to come from my condition. Now I am a guinea pig for new medical students and talk to them about my asthma and answer their questions. I have also participated in various asthma trails undertaken at Southampton Hospital.
Doing a sponsored cycle to raised money for D2 ward was the start of years of fundraising for asthma and allergy research. On one occasion I had planned another sponsored bike ride but I was just too ill. I was determined not to let any one down so I went round the course on the back of my friend’s Harley Davidson (no one said the bike wasn’t allowed an engine!). I raised £1,862 that day.

I also recorded a cassette tape for the hospital called ‘What it’s like for your family to watch you not be able to breathe!’ describing what asthma was like because I knew how frightening it is for people to watch someone struggling to breath. My sons Darren and Damian were only 11 and 9 at the time but I knew I needed to involve them with my illness so they wouldn’t panic and knew what to do in an emergency. They even helped with the recording.
It was during the medical trials at The General where I heard about AAIR. They found out how serious my asthma was and gave me syringe driver to help with my medication. Since then I have been a firm supporter, holding coffee mornings, tombolas and putting on a Christmas light display to raise money. My sons are also ‘doing their bit’ and now have various collecting tins dotted across the area in their Nisa convenience stores.
As my mobility has somewhat slowed now, I can’t do everything I’d like - 25 years of steroids have taken their toll but without this medication my situation would be a lot different, I probably wouldn’t be here today.
So I now have another, slower passion in life - growing Orchids. This passion has been passed down from my late father who displayed orchids at the Chelsea Flower Show. My husband Mike shares my love of our garden (although Mike isn’t keen on the endless list of jobs I tend to find for him!) and have opened it on many occasions for other people to enjoy and share.
With the introduction of the no-smoking policy I can now enjoy a nice meal with Mike in a restaurant or pub, without the worry of someone’s smoke triggering an asthma attack.
It can be frustrating when you have planned something and your body decides it’s not going to let you. One day I can be full of the joys of spring the next, lying in bed struggling to get a breath in my body. But I have a very positive outlook and will throw everything into achieving goals I set for myself. I am lucky to have the support of my husband, sons and fabulous friends and am extremely grateful to the asthma doctors and nurses at Southampton General as well as the great team at AAIR.
I'm sure that by accepting my illness I have been able to manage it better and have a better standard of life.

MY STORY
Simon Griffiths’ 2008 London Triathlon ended when his young son had a sudden anaphylactic shock. But 2009 saw him return and raise money for AAIR.
In August 2008 I was about to enter the water for the swim section of the London triathlon when my team mates called me back shouting: “Your son’s having an asthma attack.”
I rushed over in my wetsuit. Jacob was sitting in a chair, pale, scared and sucking desperately on his inhaler, which seemed to be having no effect. He threw the inhaler down. I tried to calm him and make him take the inhaler again. He panicked.
“I can’t breathe. I’m going to die,” he gasped.
I reassured him as best I could but at the same time I sent a friend to call medical help. I’d never seen Jacob this bad before. A first aider arrived and we rushed Jacob to the emergency room in a wheelchair. He was becoming incoherent now. His lips had lost their colour and he could only snatch short shallow breaths.
The first aider fixed up a nebuliser and pressed it to Jacob’s face. He pushed it away. We put it back. The first aider was out of her depth. She’d already called for a doctor and ambulance but they seemed to be taking forever to arrive. Jacob’s eyes rolled white, he was no longer coherent and was barely conscious. The first air bottle ran empty and we fixed up the second and last. We lifted Jacob onto the bed. His skin was cold and clammy. I held his hand and told him to be strong.

Simon, Jacob, Johann, Conrad and Esther at Windsor Castle.

At last the medical team arrived and took over the situation. They moved me to one side. A doctor fixed a canula to Jacob’s wrist and gave him a shot of adrenalin. He immediately vomited. They turned him on his side, cleaned the vomit from his mouth and fixed a new nebuliser.
The next few minutes are something of a blur. The medical team seemed to be in control. One called out numbers, another wrote them down. At some point they clipped something onto Jacob’s finger to monitor the oxygen in his blood and his heart rate. One was dangerously low, the other high.
The next step was the ambulance. Someone suggested I change as I was still wearing my wetsuit. They lifted Jacob onto a stretcher and wheeled him outside. I ran along beside, past the crowds that had come to watch the triathlon. Jacob was semi-conscious at best.
We hurtled across East London to Newham Hospital, blue lights flashing and siren blaring. A full team met the ambulance and rushed Jacob into the resuscitation unit. I could only watch as they put him into a bed, gave him yet another nebuliser and attached more monitoring devices.
Gradually, Jacob’s breathing and heart rate slowed, the oxygen levels started to creep up. He came round briefly and then fell asleep. I was finally able to phone home and tell my partner. Thankfully I could tell her Jacob was recovering. We were fortunate to have been at an event attended by a skilled medical team.
Jacob suffers from both asthma and allergies. Dairy products, eggs and nuts are the worst culprits. What I thought was an asthma attack was in fact anaphylactic shock. He’d bought himself a tea and asked for soya milk. He also ate a bag of crisps. Either the tea was made with cow milk or the crisps had milk traces.

As a parent of an allergic child you have to be constantly vigilant. As your child grows older and more independent it becomes increasingly difficult. Jacob is now an outgoing 13-year old. He enjoys playing out with his friends and sharing food with them. He’s careful and knows to check everything but we always worry. It’s easy to make a mistake. We urge him to carry his inhaler and epi-pen but he doesn’t want to be different so sometimes they’re forgotten.
As I missed last year’s race, the organisers offered me a free team place in the 2009 London Triathlon. I asked a couple of friends to race with me and created a Just-Giving page dedicated to AAIR. So far we’ve raised £400. Asthma and allergies are frightening conditions and I wanted to support an organisation working to understand and control them.

MY STORY
It has been almost two years since Claire Duffus took on the new role of Asthma and Allergy Clinical Nurse Specialist at Southampton General Hospital. Since then Claire and a staff nurse have helped many asthma and allergy sufferers in Hampshire.
“The role was created in response to patients becoming aware of problems with their asthma and experiencing allergies. We now have a large number of referrals coming both from GPs in Hampshire and surrounding counties as well as specialist clinics in Bournemouth, Southampton and the Isle of Wight. Southampton provides the main specialist service for allergy in the South of England and patient demand is increasing daily.
There is no such thing as a typical day for me because there are so many strands to the job. My role is confined to the hospital but we are kept more than busy. The areas of asthma and allergy spill over into each other because a lot of people with allergies suffer from asthma and most severe asthmatics also have allergies so it is very much a dual role combing asthma and allergy clinical nursing. We do regular sweeps of the respiratory and admission wards to identify anyone who has been admitted due to asthma or an allergic reaction. The patients are seen where possible on the ward and inhaler technique or epipen training is carried out, they are always offered follow up appointments in the relevant clinic on discharge. In many cases we have to test for drugs allergies such as penicillin, anaesthetics, antibiotics and pain killers.
Referrals from the allergy clinics mean we can spend up to a whole day carrying out tests to identify allergy. Some patients bring foods they suspect they are allergic to. I remember one gentleman arriving with a whole seafood platter complete with everything from prawns to oysters. We also hold an immunotherapy clinics which involves giving carefully calculated amounts of allergen by injection, building up tolerance by giving increasing amounts of allergen at weekly intervals over a period of three months. The complete treatment last for three years.
Every day is extremely busy but very rewarding. We find we can answer a lot of questions which patients have been struggling with for years. One particularly memorable success story was a lady in her 40’s who was admitted with an asthma attack but was discharged without follow up.. Fortunately I managed to track her down and offered her appointment in the asthma clinic where many lifetime allergies were identified. It transpired she was a long term asthmatic and had also been allergic to a wide range of things as a child but no one had realised. This had been affecting her life enormously from the age of 6 when she was sent home from a school trip because her eyes and whole face were swollen and itchy. She had had an allergic reaction but of course 40 years ago no one realised. We diagnosed her allergies to grass pollens, weeds, horses and dogs and provided effective treatment, since then her life has, quite simply, been transformed which is very rewarding. She can now visit her mother without sitting in the garden the whole time because of her allergy to dogs and she can play with her young children without getting out if breath.
My message to anyone who suspects they have asthma or suspects they have an allergy particularly to nuts, shellfish or wasp and bee stings is not to ignore it. Many people think if they have a bad reaction to something they will have gained some protection so wrongly assume their second reaction will not be so bad. In fact the complete opposite is true and second or third reactions are likely to be even worse, so it is extremely important to seek specialist help. I have been horrified by stories of people being told to ignore their allergic reactions as they are likely to be one-offs and will simply disappear of their own accord.
My wish for the future would be to see a fully running allergy service with more staff and much shorter waiting times. Referrals from doctors and clinics mean we have a waiting list of up to 6 months although we hope to get this down to three months soon. Remember if you have severe allergies or asthma it is possible that your life could be transformed with the right treatment.
Claire was an asthma nurse in a GP surgery for 20 years running asthma clinics and then became interested in allergy as a result. She also teaches to diploma standard in asthma and allergy for nurses.

My Story

Leigh in his famous Ospreys rugby top, being a proud Welshman!

Adonai Agnello and friends have set up their Justgiving page to raise Ł10,000 in memory of Leigh Mabbett who died following an asthma attack in March 2009 aged just 34.
“It’s not easy losing a best friend, especially when one moment he’s there and the next he’s gone...
Leigh spent the last years of his life living here in Toulouse in France, enjoying the good local wines and gastronomic food. He sadly died earlier this year. I remember he was making some last minute touches before his parents come over to see him. It was during the weekend when Italy were playing Wales in the 6 Nations rugby. It was also Mothers Day and Leigh had bought a nice bottle of Champagne for his mum. The rugby match had finished, Leigh was very happy as his parents were visiting and of course the mighty Wales had won. Leigh could not wait for the next game in the following against Ireland to see who would win the 6 Nations Championship.
But it wasn’t to be. The next evening Leigh suffered a severe asthma attack, his parents fortunately were there by his side giving first aid before the Ambulance arrived. He was in intensive care for a few days, we were always hopeful he would pull through but on Monday evening on the 23rd he left us.

I wanted to do something through Just Giving because that was Leigh summed up...he was forever giving; whether it be advice, helping others through work or just being the best son he could be and brother. He was such a selfless person who would go out of his way to help others, even to the end when he kindly donated his organs

Lunch in the office with his colleagues

Leigh with the rest of the team posing for the first A380 aircraft delivery. Leigh loved aircraft and the A380 had a special place in his heart

Leigh had an amazing zest for life. He lived each moment to its fullest, each day he would strive to be the best he could be but at the same time would work endlessly for various charities.
The idea came to set up a memorial charity site for AAIR because Leigh was asthmatic. This condition in no way stopped him from being who he was, he lived alongside Asthma. Never letting it get in the way of his life - until that fateful evening when finally Asthma took his life over.
Family, friends and work colleagues collectively wanted an extra special way to remember Leigh. By choosing AAIR we felt that Leigh’s memorial could in some way contribute to others affected by Asthma and perhaps one day this disease could be cured, or at least contained to decrease the number of people that succumb to it every year.
Leigh was young, he had everything to live for ……. full of life, of energy, of passion, love & laughter.
There are too many people suffering from asthma today and too many sufferers are taken each year. My mother and sister are both severely asthmatic and it pains me to see and remember the attacks they have been through.
Let Leigh’s memorial continue to pave the way for new research, for new medicine and hopefully one day for a new cure.
Leigh loved organising Charity Events, so in his honour we will be organising some Events soon.
You can sponsor Adonai and his friends at www.justgiving.com/leigh-mabbett

My Story
Martin Zepler has had asthma since he was 7 years-old. He is now 44 and has learned how to manage his condition so he can enjoy life to the full.
“I’m not sure the person who invented this inhaler spacer (with sound) realised it would be used in a cramped tent, in a muddy Welsh field with 300 other mountain bikers, possibly wondering what that noise is coming from in tent number 200. This is the 2008 Trans Wales mountain bike event - a 500 kilometres off-road challenge across the best trails Mid Wales has to offer, with additional race stages to give the event a winner. Although I can assure you that anyone who completes these events is a winner. Getting to the finish line on the final day with every kilometre completed is a feeling you can only guess at.

This is my third of the Trans events and by far the toughest. In fact it is the toughest thing I have done in my life. August 2008 has given us the wettest week in Wales since 1902. What were supposed to be dry and rocky woodland trails have become deeply rutted, bike-munching bogs. To make matters worse some of the routing has changed to compensate for flooding and the stage campsites are like Louisiana swamps. Now this is the last day and the sun has come out and it is to be the best day …
I have been mountain biking since 1992 and have had asthma in varying degree since I was 7. I was termed a moderate asthmatic but after moving to Poole in 2001 my condition became steadily worse. By 2004 I needed more aggressive medication and by the winter my allergic reaction was so exacerbated by cold weather, causing chest infections and inflammation that taking part in mountain biking was out of the question.
I had already been referred to Poole hospital and realised if I wanted to keep living in the Poole area and stay healthy I would have to keep a record of my peak flows, health and medication. From early 2005 the main inflammation was cleared and the hospital gave me a regime of medication to follow. I could then provide daily peak

flow, weekly and monthly averages and medication doses. Recording how my chest felt as a score out of 10 daily also proved useful.
The result was that from 2005 my asthma was under control and I was able to start training consistently on a regular basis; and just plain enjoy riding my mountain bike without fear! In one year I went from an occasional event rider to regularly enjoying day events across the Welsh, English and Scottish hills and mountains. It eventually changed my life until I was able to explore my passion with limitless glee the South West hills while the Lake District in the North West has almost become my second home. I now ride three times a week all year round, training up to and beyond 125 miles a week off-road as well as riding to the office each day. I have found the more reliable my health has become the more I can do and I am no longer fearful of remote and wild places. In fact I love them!
Keeping a record of my health had directly assisted my sport where I can predict with some authority how I am going to react to a particular circumstance.
The biggest benefits have been in the years since. In addition to the training and personal challenges I travel the country to the best locations to ride the hills and mountains of our glorious Isle. My favourite single event of the year is the South Downs Way Maxx Exposure which is run near the equinox and at sunset in early October - 80 miles on the South Downs Way at night. The sights of riders light snaking in front and behind silhouetted against the downs, sounds of rattling chains and cogs, mingling with night life and smells as well as the camaraderie of fellow riders is magical
People are generally shocked to find I am so asthmatic yet still enjoy and do so well in these events. But then I find I am often fighting many people’s perceptions of asthmatics. Remember it is a condition not necessarily an illness.
The last day of the 2008 Trans Wales was to be a day to remember.
Up to that point crawling out of my tent each day had become a battle of wills. But today the sun was out and I was determined to make this a good day. It started with a rocky and picturesque climb through the woods as I passed many riders including the odd leaders’ jersey. Then mayhem as the heavy rain turned shallow river crossings and trails into deep and continuous water, demanding all my hard earned skill and tenacity to remain upright.
After another long climb I entered mountain bike heaven as the trail zig-zagged down into a valley and then undulated by the edge of the river. By now I didn’t care if I beat the cut-off time as just riding in such a wild, remote place was so unique and special. The last 12k section took in roads where villagers cheered us home to Builth Wells.

I finished 35 minutes before the time cut off and the sense of achievement and pride of getting through the ordeal of this event cannot be described only imagined.
But if my asthma had not been under control it would not have been a consideration. The best part of having control and understanding of my condition is it allows me to make the very most of my health and the sport I love. For too many years I excused my condition as viruses and infections when in fact it was just badly controlled and un-monitored asthma. One thing I have found is look after my asthma and it will look after me. I very rarely now get colds or viruses that often put non-asthmatics to shame.
I have learnt to have the confidence to question everything about my condition. By controlling and monitoring my asthma I have the confidence to take myself to the Rockies, the Alps as well as the biggest hills and mountains in this island that I can take a mountain bike. See you out there one day.

Allergic to food
Samuel Pettitt is a healthy 16-year old who enjoys his food like anyone else. But it wasn’t always like that. As a baby boy Samuel had severe allergic reactions to an endless list of foods and suffered his first anaphylactic shock when he was just 15 months old.
His mother Lucy has now written a book describing life before Samuel ‘grew-out’ of his allergies. Lucy tells AAIR what drove her to write ‘An allergic chapter in my life: beaten by an egg’.
“It started when I was weaning Samuel at 4-months-old. He seemed to react to everything from wheat, milk, and eggs - even fruit and vegetables caused a problem. Reactions ranged from a runny nose to wheals on his skin to anaphylactic shock.
In the years that followed my life was turned upside down. I had to take Piriton and an epipen with me everywhere and it was really, really hard to find anything Samuel could eat. He could only tolerate a few things like rice, lamb, beef and green beans, so ‘eating-out’ was very difficult. When we went to friends for tea or BBQs I would be on tender-hooks. At one birthday party tears rolled down my face while I watched Samuel eat his own food while the other children had sandwiches, sausage rolls, cakes and sweets.
Incredibly, fourteen years later, my son had grown out of all his allergies. My sense of relief at escaping the grip of allergy was mind blowing, I don’t think I had realised the pressure I’d been under until he was finally given the all-clear. I had never imagined that Samuel would be able to eat anything he wanted. It is quite unbelievable. This experience has opened my eyes to what having an allergy really means.
While I was writing the book I would sometimes start sobbing because it bought back all the memories. But I was driven to completing it because I am determined to share my story with other allergy sufferers in the hope that it may give them support and inspiration.”

An allergic chapter in my life: beaten by an egg by Lucy Pettitt is published by Spectrumymotion and costs Ł10.95 (inc. p&p). To order a copy visit www.mertonbooks.co.uk. The book is also interspersed with Samuel’s poems. for more info visit www.spectrumymotion.co.uk
To win one of 5 copies of Lucy’s book simply read through our website to answer the following question:
Tell us one allergy statistic found on the AAIR website. E-mail your answer to emma@aaircharity.org RE: ‘Book Competition’ along with your name and address for the book to be sent to. The first five emails with correct answers will win a book.
Excerpt
“It’s Monday. He’s 15 months old. I scramble an egg. I serve my son death on a plate. I’m his mother and I feed him poison. He chokes and splutters, swells and reddens. I run down the road pushing the pushchair. Whilst he’s coughing he’s alive, but he’s choking; he’s dying"

My Story
Victoria Foss, an effervescent 22 year old graduate from the University of Winchester, was completing her teaching training with Portsmouth SCITT when she died from an acute asthma attack on the 3rd March 2008. Her Father. Nigel explains why the AWARE BEAR Project will ensure Vikki's memory will live on.
On Sunday 2nd of March for Mothers Day, my daughter, Victoria, visited us for lunch and we laughed and joked about the future and her dreams. What we didn't know then was just twelve hours later at midnight we would receive a phone call that Vikki was fighting for her life having an asthma attack. Just 40 minutes later at Southampton General Hospital, the doctor in charge said he was very sorry but they would have to stop and she was declared dead. She was like a wild wind sweeping into the house, downloading what has happened to her in the day in just a few microseconds where we could have taken minutes, or even hours. Her chatter her laughter, her uncontrollable giggles, that's what we all will miss.
She was a collector of items, of issues, of people, of causes, inquisitive not only of ideas but in people. She wanted to know what made them tick, all these she pushed into her chosen career of teaching, her love of youngsters. She was over the moon about her future, excited to think how she could help children in a teaching career that was on the eve of taking off.
At her funeral 22 days later attended by over four hundred, Max Coates her former head said that he remembered her as a "diminutive 11 year old who was an absolute delight. She had an incredible vibrancy and optimism". At twenty two she was an enthusiastic, lively, bubbly, young lady with her future before her. Her passion was children and their wellbeing. She would champion the underdog, stand up for causes and win through when sometimes others would not.
She was training with Portsmouth SCITT with other students as part of her post graduate studies to achieve her goal to become a teacher; she would call in daily, full of her thoughts and ideas. One day as part of her training she had a lecture on the implementation and restrictions imposed by the Children's Act and Child Protection issues. She learnt that it was not p.c. to hug children in distress so she had an idea to have a large teddy bear in class to provide this service.
We were aware from teachers and her mentors that there are many things that teachers have to deal with; one of them is children's health. As world leaders, the UK has on average 3 children in every class affected by asthma to some level of degree, and that ASTHMA claims a life on average every 6 hours.
She looked out for people - on DoE awards she walked or canoed in foul weather, camped out in hail or rain but still made sure those with her were ok even at her own expense. This was reflected in her sport - cold afternoons watching her play with gusto at hockey for Fareham. Her asthma always seemed to occur when she got excited or impatient with life. Would it stop her? - No! I remember speaking to her about the effects of playing Hockey, was it pushing her too far? No! She corrected me; she said she would live life to the full, even if it made her play on with her inhaler tucked into her knickers! As part of the funeral in lieu of flowers we nominated both Fareham Hockey Club for which she played and AAIR. We were uplifted to learn that Fareham Hockey received over Ł500 with AAIR receiving over Ł2,500. As a tribute to her aim in life to bring comfort and learning to children, we thought long and hard to arrive at a means to continue her dream, the AWAIREBEAR evolved. This invites nomination of teachers or schools to receive a large teddy bear decked in logo printed T-shirt, with an information pack on the work of AAIR. We formed a charitable company known as AWAAIREBEAR Ltd which aims to provide a bear in the classroom large enough for distressed children to give and receive a hug; as an aide-memoir to teachers and schools to become aware of asthma; and finally with 100% profits to AAIR.

We received an invitation to attend the farewell party of the student group Vikki studied with before they graduated from Portsmouth University at which we formally launched the charity by presenting 22 large bears to them, receiving page 1 cover by Portsmouth News.
In the first few hours of New Years Day this year I received the following text from Vikki, she said: "2008 is at the door. Remember, life is short, break the rules, forgive quickly, kiss slowly, love truly, laugh uncontrollably, and never regret anything that made you smile." We will always remember her New Year's message and in my heart I will hear her uncontrollable laughter and see her radiant loving smile.
Visit our web page www.awaaairebear.com

OUR STORY
Ray Williams, 62, from Hampshire, has taken part in 4 asthma trials. He donated the fee from his last trial to AAIR.
“I am classed as a chronic asthma sufferer because I’ve had the condition all my life. When you live with asthma you don’t always realise how much deterioration has taken place until you have specific tests. I’d put my tiredness and shortage of breath down to old age. I was quite surprised when I had my health check for the trial and my reading showed a 46% lung function, which means my ability to take in oxygen was only half what it should have been.

The trial I took part in lasted one month. I haven’t been told if I received the placebo treatment or the trial drug but I do know that while I was taking part in the trial I felt as if I’d been given a new lease of life. Before then, just getting out of bed in the morning was an effort, but afterwards I felt like a spring chicken. I now have bags of energy.
From my point of view taking part in these trials is beneficial regardless of whether I receive the placebo or real trial drug because I get a health MOT and receive very good care. The nurses are a really friendly bunch they put people at ease straight away. By the end of the trial I left feeling they were my friends.”

Paul Barnes, 46, from Hampshire, has been involved in more asthma and allergy trials over the past 20 years than he can remember.
“I have no idea how many trials I have taken part in - too many to remember. I started 20 years ago when I saw an advert in my local newspaper. After the first one I was committed and am now an old hand at it.
My daughter, my niece, nephew and sister all have asthma or allergies. Knowing I might be helping to produce a drug which can help them and improve their quality of life is a real driving force for me.
Each trial is different. The last one I took part in was quite a big allergy study aimed at testing a drug to reduce the symptoms of hay fever. I think it started around this time last year in time for the 2006 hay fever season and was supposed to be aiming to treating hay fever for five years.
I haven’t been told if I had the real drug or placebo but I think it was the drug because something certainly worked very well. I do a lot of outdoor sport and can end up having quite bad attacks of hay fever during the summer. But last summer I think I have had just one. I know last year wasn’t a very good summer but I usually get upwards of a dozen hay fever attacks.
If you feel able to take part then I would say to definitely consider it. It does involve giving up your time but the crew are very good at fitting in with your other commitments as best they can. They are a very friendly bunch, very helpful and there is a benefit of being able to help other people."

VOLUNTEER FACT FILE
New volunteer details are kept on a database until a suitable study is announced. Volunteers then receive details of the study and, if interested, are asked to attend a screening visit and health check which can take approximately 2 hours.

Some trials take place over several centres so results may not be known for up to nine months.

All trials are ‘blind’ hence no-one including the trial nurses know which volunteers are receiving the trial drug or placebo until after the results are announced.

Drugs being trialed can take several forms including injections, inhalers and tablets.

Volunteers can be aged anywhere between 18 – 85

It may be possible to continue receiving the drug after the trial if it has been successful and goes on to be produced commercially.

Many trials are for drugs which are adaptations of drugs already being prescribed.

Volunteers receive out of pocket expenses during trials to cover items such as travelling expenses and parking.

For more information contact Sarah Firths or Di Edwards on 023 80 794343.

MY STORY
Namrata, Manoj and Aarti Panchmatia lost Anuj, their precious son and brother, to asthma three years ago. This is their story.
“Losing a child is the most devastating thing that can happen to anyone, and you can never get ‘over’ the grief. You learn to live with it, as it recedes into the distance and then washes over you like a fierce wave, never at set intervals. The need to make sense of events is consuming but answers are not to be found. Perhaps it is better to commemorate your child’s life by doing something constructive that doesn’t lead to personal or material gain.

We lost our 9 year old son, Anuj, on September 15th 2004, after a sudden and severe asthma attack. He died on a school playing field under a glorious cloudless sky. Our sunny, active, sport-mad child was diagnosed as a mild asthmatic and we felt that his condition was well controlled with his inhalers. Never did we consider that a relatively healthy person could die from asthma. Our perception was that these deaths occurred in severe asthmatics that were regularly hospitalised. We realised that there needed to be greater awareness of asthma, as well as the need for continued research into the condition to protect the future generations.
We discovered Asthma UK’s trek along the Great Wall of China by accident. There was an article in a magazine about a fund-raising parent who had also lost a child to asthma, and beside it the trek was outlined. It was to start on September 24th 2005, a year to the day of Anuj’s funeral.
Manoj saw it as a sign to motivate him into action, and with only four months to prepare, plunged himself into a fitness regime for the trek. Thanks to the generosity of friends and family deeply affected by our loss, the total raised was Ł20,000.
We then discovered AAIR, situated in Southampton General Hospital, and the great advances made by the research team. When Manoj decided to take part in the trek along the Ghurkha Valley in the Himalayas, we decided that the fund would be split between AAIR and Asthma UK. The date of departure was September 15th 2007 (another sign!), and the Ł16,000 was raised by staging various events through the year.
Through the loss of Anuj we will always raise funds to contribute to research to eradicate asthma as a life-threatening condition. For Manoj the physical challenges have been a tribute to our son, as well as satisfying and enjoyable experiences.
Anuj tackled each task (be it maths or learning to ski in one afternoon!) with enthusiasm and determination, and always with satisfaction with his lot in life.

The AAIR Charity, AIR, Mailpoint 810, Level F, Southampton General Hospital, Tremona Road, Southampton, Hampshire SO16 6YD.
Tel: 023 8077 1234 Fax: 023 8079 6866