Father warns of asthma’s dangers

David Kirkpatrick believes his daughter might still be alive if she had been more aware of the lifethreatening risks of asthma.

‘‘I think she took for granted [the fact] that when she was OK, she was OK, but it’s like a flick of a switch,’’ he said.

Alicia Kirkpatrick, a 29-yearold musician, suffered a fatal asthma attack while in a car in backcountry near Gisborne on August 28. Her three daughters – aged 11, 9 and 17 months – were in the vehicle at the time.

Between 60 and 70 Kiwis die from asthma-related problems each year.

That figure has tracked downward slightly since 2000. But both David Kirkpatrick and the Asthma and Respiratory Foundation believe there is a greater need for education about the dangers of the condition.

‘‘Asthma is a killer and it destroys families, just like car crashes and everything else,’’ Kirkpatrick said.

Alicia’s heart stopped in an earlier serious attack at her home in May, but she lived next door to her aunt who had access to the local fire station and its oxygen tanks.

‘‘The first attack, as bad as it was, even that wasn’t enough to keep her on top of it,’’ Kirkpatrick said. ‘‘She’s one of eight children. She was more into helping everybody else than helping herself.’’

When the second attack in August came on, she was about 30km away from home, with no cellphone reception, no landline and no easy access to emergency services, Kirkpatrick said.

He believed the power and water had been cut off at her home, so she had headed to her mother’s house.

Asthma and Respiratory Foundation chief executive Letitia O’Dwyer said in cases of severe and sudden attacks, some deaths would always be inevitable.

‘‘If you can’t get to an ambulance, that’s always going to happen, but what we want to do is try and educate.’’

She did not believe there were issues with the quality of medication but said it was important people knew the importance of using preventers as well as inhalers.

Preventer inhalers – usually brown or orange – treat the inflammation inside your airways and prevent swelling. Regular inhalers, or relievers, bring short-term relief but do not treat the swelling.

In Alicia Kirkpatrick’s case, her regular inhaler proved ineffective and she had not been prescribed a nebuliser. Her inhaler and prednisone were all that she had with her when she died, her father said.

He is seeking counselling for his mokopuna, whom he has been caring for since their mother’s death. A Givelittle page has been set up to help with their care.

‘‘At the moment, we are concentrating on those girls and trying to get some normalcy back into their lives, and making sure they are OK mentally,’’ he said.

Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) statistics indicate New Zealand has the fourth-highest hospital admission rates for asthma of OECD countries.

There is no defined Ministry of Health target for respiratory illness – our third biggest killer – which costs New Zealand about $6 billion each year, according to the foundation’s 2016 impact report.

The foundation needed government support in order to fund its education and awareness work, O’Dwyer said.

‘‘As soon as the next government is formed, I’ll be knocking on the minister of health’s door and pushing to have a budget behind respiratory illness.’’