'A funny joke could kill me but no one takes my common condition seriously'
Asthma affects millions of people in the UK, yet many underestimate the devastating impact it can have on people like Tiffanni Fennell, who has shared the harsh reality
Most of us would never imagine that something as innocent as a joke or the whiff of perfume could put our lives at risk. But for 27-year-old Tiffanni Fennell, those are the things she has to consider every single day.
From the outside, she looks like any other young woman - healthy, full of life. But living with severe asthma has made her feel invisible, as strangers don't appreciate just how dangerous her condition truly is. Asthma affects 7.2 million people in the UK - but only 4% have the severe form that Tiffanni lives with, according to Asthma + Lung UK.
Just last week, she had an asthma attack in the middle of her local Co-Op store because her bags were heavy, and her chest suddenly felt tight. "I had to sit down in the middle of an aisle as I was struggling to breathe," she told the Mirror. "Nobody stopped, and people just walked around me."
An incident that still haunts her is the time she was in a car with her boyfriend Adam, 27, and he cracked a joke. 'I was laughing so much that I started to struggle for breath, and Adam instantly turned the car round and sped towards the hospital,' she recalled.
'I never really know what will trigger the next asthma attack, or whether I'll survive.' Since childhood, Tiffanni's life has consisted of constant hospital visits and terrifying asthma attacks.
Tiffanni, a salon assistant from Jersey, started with breathing issues at the age of five, when a bout of pneumonia left her hospitalised with fluid on her lungs. 'I remember Mum camping out in the hospital next to me and squeezing my hand as I struggled to suck air into my chest," she said.
"It must have been terrifying for my family, and I honestly don't think they've relaxed since.' But her trauma didn't stop there - she contracted pneumonia again at 19 and wasn't expected to survive.
Living in Jersey also means she has to travel all the way to Southampton just to receive specialist care, though it's not only the travelling which contributes to the stress of her condition. But her symptoms are often dismissed by people, even the doctors she goes to for help. 'A hospital clinician told me I was anxious in the middle of a nasty asthma attack,' she claimed. 'I collapsed shortly after.'
Tiffanni is sharing what life is really like with the condition this World Asthma Day, shining a light on 'what it's really like to permanently have your life on mute. As asthma is so common, people have no idea how dangerous and limiting it can be.'
She is grateful for a loving partner, whom she met at a friend's party in 2018. Adam supports her through the unpredictable changes asthma brings, but the condition has stolen many of her dreams.
Tiffanni had hoped to become a hairdresser, but worries she'd constantly be letting clients down due to her frequent absences. 'I dream about buying a house, having babies, and going on sun-kissed holidays on Greek islands,' she says. 'My life goals feel hollow because travel and childbirth could put too much pressure on my lungs, and a physically demanding career is a definite no-no.'
For the past five years, she's been taking Biologics - a targeted therapy for severe asthma that reduces inflammation in the lungs. While many see it as a game changer, the results have been different for her, despite fewer hospital visits.
'I've been told that I probably won't live a long life, and I'd like to say that I'm OK with that, but the truth is I'm really not,' she says. 'But I do know that I am doing everything I can to stay well. I manage my condition with an asthma action plan and regular reviews and inhaler checks.'
Asthma + Lung UK reports that only a third of people with asthma are managing their asthma properly. This means having a yearly review, regular inhaler checks and a clear action plan.
Like so many other people living with breathing difficulties, Tiffanni wants to see lung health taken seriously - with more money invested into life-saving respiratory treatments, and better care. 'Being able to breathe shouldn't be a privilege,' she says. 'It should be an absolute right.'
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