Mother's asthma plea after daughter's sudden death

The mother of a schoolgirl who died after an asthma attack has said sufferers should have regular checks to avoid "preventable" deaths like her daughter.

Tracy Bulpitt's daughter Katy was 12-years-old when she suffered a severe asthma attack at home in November 2021.

Despite calling for a neighbour's help and being taken to hospital by paramedics, Katy died 30 minutes after arriving at the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital (QEUH) in Glasgow.

Ms Bulpitt is now appealing to other asthmatics to use preventative medications and attend annual reviews of their condition.

As a mother of six children, four diagnosed with asthma, Ms Bulpitt has seen first hand how quickly an asthma attack can become severe.

"Katy could go from being absolutely fine to a full blown attack, needing nebulisers within a twenty minute period," she said.

"She had a consultant appointment four weeks before she passed away, she had a lung function test.

"If the consultant had told me just how much of a decline there was in Katy’s lung function, there would have been less chance of me leaving her alone, knowing how quickly her asthma would go downhill."

On the day Katy died, she had complained of a headache at school and asked to come home.

Ms Bulpitt had collected her other children from school and was on her way home when a neighbour alerted her that Katy had become unwell and an ambulance had been called.

She said: "Luckily, Katy had the foresight to call one of the neighbours in to help.

"Sadly because of the severity of the attack and how quickly it happened, it was just too late for even the paramedics to be able to help when they arrived."

Charity Asthma + Lung UK estimate that around 370,000 Scots are currently receiving treatment for asthma, around 71,000 of these are children.

The charity is calling on the Scottish Government to revisit the National Review of Asthma Deaths (NRAD), a 2014 report which found many death resulting from asthma are preventable.

Joseph Carter, Head of Asthma + Lung UK Scotland, said:

"Ten years after NRAD, the fact that around 100 people a year are dying of asthma attacks in Scotland is an absolute travesty, particularly when most of them are avoidable. This is not acceptable.

"Around 368,000 Scots have asthma, and with the proper treatment and support, they should be able to live perfectly normal lives.

"We need the Scottish government to prioritise asthma and other lung conditions, ensuring that people have the right inhalers, are regularly monitored and are empowered to self-manage their condition."

For Tracy Bulpitt, the worry of another severe asthma attack is something her family lives with every day.

She said: "It’s a constant panic – more so with the summer being here because you never know."

Ms Bulpitt is backing Asthma + Lung UK's call for the government to introduce national targets to end preventable asthma deaths.

She encouraged people living with asthma to get regular checks with their GP, attend asthma reviews with specialists and use their inhaler correctly.

She said: "Make sure your inhalers are being used. If you’re not using your preventative inhaler why are you not using your inhaler? If you’re using that blue inhaler then you need to be getting checked out because your blue inhaler is your reliever.

"If you need to use your blue inhaler, that means your asthma is not controlled. You need to be getting to your GP and getting a check up in case your preventative inhaler needs a change."

Asthma has no cure but different types of inhalers can be used preventatively or as a reliever.

The NHS also recommends a video by Asthma + Lung UK on using an inhaler properly.

Remembering her daughter, Ms Bulpitt said: "Katy was bright. She was bubbly. She was super friendly. Everybody loved her.

"She loved being a big sister, loved all the children in the neighbourhood.

"She was the first one when it was a nice day to chap on doors to see if dogs wanted walked or the younger kids wanted to go to the park.

"It leaves a very big void in our family but not only that – it also leaves a very big void in our community because Katy was such a big part of the community.

"It's just not the same without Katy and everybody does feel it when we go to do things and she’s just not there as the life and soul and having a laugh with everybody," she added.

A Scottish government spokesperson said:

“We are committed to ensuring everyone living with respiratory conditions receives the best possible care, treatment and support to enable them to live longer, healthier, and more independent lives.

“In March 2021, we published the first Respiratory Care Action Plan (RCAP) for Scotland which sets out our priorities and commitments for driving improvement in the prevention, diagnosis, care, treatment and support of people living with respiratory conditions.

“These include developing best practice guidelines for children with asthma transitioning to adult services. We are also supporting more appropriate prescribing of medicines and the development of national pathways for severe asthma care.”