A young mum who lost her life "far too soon" at just 22-years-old will be "greatly missed" as her family warn of a life-threatening condition.
Amy Greenwood, of Skelmersdale, suffered a sudden and unexpected asthma attack on Wednesday night. The 22-year-old was found unconscious by her fiancé not breathing and required CPR and ventilation before a decision was made to turn off her life support machine the following day.
Having suffered from asthma all her life, being "in and out of hospital", her loving family want to raise awareness of the severity of the condition. Amy's brother, James, said her asthma got "worse as she got older" but on Wednesday evening, Amy - mum of Bailey, 4 and Orla, eight-months - collapsed "suddenly".
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He told the ECHO: "She was on special medication that few people in the UK were on and she was on steroids for a while. She was recently told she could stop taking the steroids but on Wednesday evening she collapsed. It was so unexpected.
"In the day she was fine, said she had a bit of a tight chest but that night she Facetimed me and said she was feeling much better and that she was going to have a shower and go to bed. But that was it."
That night, Amy's fiancé Keagan Boylan heard a thud and when he went upstairs, he found Amy unconscious and not breathing. Immediately commencing CPR, family and paramedics were called and Amy was rushed to Wigan hospital.
Amy regained a heartbeat, but despite best efforts, she was placed on life support. James added: "Within an hour of her being rushed to hospital, my dad called and said we all needed to come up.
"We were told they had got her breathing again but because she had a lack of oxygen, something had happened to her brain. We were told she wouldn't be the person we knew if she came out of it.
"Scans showed no brain activity and on Friday a decision was made to turn off her life support and we all said our goodbyes. It was completely out of the blue, she'd been fine that day."
The mum-of-two had regularly taken medication for her asthma, which her brother said was "severe". In the hopes of raising awareness of the condition, he said: "Always take your inhalers.
"Amy always did but hers was so severe. Me and my other sister Zoe and Amy's kids have asthma, make sure you take your brown inhaler every morning and night and if you feel even a slight wheeze, don't just think nothing of it.
"Before an asthma attack, Amy always said she'd get an itchy chin, which sounds strange but others have said the same. But if you feel your chest tighten that's the main sign."
Amy was described as a family person as she loved "being together with everyone", being particularly close to her siblings. James said: "We've all grown up together, really close. There's only two years between me and Amy and we facetimed every single day.
"We've always go out for meals at lunchtimes and little trips to M&S. She was a family person. Even though she moved out four years ago, she was always around our house.
"She kept in contact with all of her friends from primary and high school and was a loving person. She was gentle with her two kids and despite having them young, she was so mature.
James added his mum ran the London marathon for Asthma + Lung UK at the beginning of October to help raise awareness.
A fundraising page has been set up to help the family, which can be found here. It reads: "Amy has been taken away from her family, friends and beautiful babies (Bailey, 4 years and Orla, 8 months) far too soon at the young age of just 22.
"Amy tragically passed away in Wigan Hospital in the Intensive Care Unit surrounded by her loving family on Friday 21st October at 4.04pm. Amy suffered with a severe asthma attack on Wednesday evening which lead to her needing to be resuscitated and ventilated.
"Amy has dealt with severe asthma her entire life and we would like to raise awareness to others around the severity of the condition. We’re raising these funds to help the family with ANYTHING they need at this awful, awful time.
"This world is such a cruel place and no words can justify the heartbreak being experienced by all of Amy’s family and friends right now. ‘Keep going that person in heaven don’t want you to quit’."
Asthma
According to the NHS, asthma is a common lung condition that causes occasional breathing difficulties, affecting people of all ages. Common symptoms can include a whistling sound when breathing, breathlessness, a tight chest and coughing
Every 10 seconds someone has a potentially life-threatening asthma attack, the NHS reports. Signs that you may be having an asthma attack include:
- your symptoms are getting worse (cough, breathlessness, wheezing or tight chest)
- your reliever inhaler (usually blue) is not helping
- you're too breathless to speak, eat or sleep
- your breathing is getting faster and it feels like you cannot catch your breath
- your peak flow score is lower than normal
- children may also complain of a tummy or chest ache
More information can be found on the NHS website here or Asthma UK here.
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