Asthma and every attack have the potential to be life-threatening.

The sudden and tragic death of 12-year-old Ryan Gibbons is a stark reminder of that.

Ryan was an energetic boy who loved motorbikes and hiking in the woods – but a fatal mistake would soon take his life.

Back in 2012, he suffered an asthma attack at school.

He could have simply used his inhaler at the beginning of the episode, but the life-saving device had been taken from him.

On October 9, 12-year-old grade 7 student Ryan Gibbons went to school – just like any other day

However, that day he wouldn’t return home

Ryan suffered an asthma attack while playing soccer in school and was unable to reach his rescue medication, which was locked in the school office.

The suffering boy needed his inhaler to open his airways and allow him to breathe

But it was his school’s policy to keep the inhalers locked in the principal’s office and spare inhalers were repeatedly confiscated from Ryan.

A group of Ryan’s friends tried to carry him to the office during the attack, but the boys couldn’t get to the inhaler in time.

Ryan passed out and never was revived.

The tragedy occurred at the Elgin Country School in Ontario, Canada, and shook a whole nation.

Asthma attacks aren’t always predictable, and it is dangerous to keep the inhaler locked in a room.

But the school kept taking Ryan’s extra inhaler away.

Ryan’s mom said that the school called her on several occasions, asking her to pick up an inhaler that Ryan had brought to school.

He wasn’t allowed to bring it home.

”You would give him an inhaler but then he would get caught with the inhaler and then it would be taken away,” Sandra Gibbons said, speaking to CBC

Without his mother’s struggle for justice, more tragic deaths would probably occur and I am happy that the politicians signed ”Ryan’s law”. 

Let’s pass this article on to remember Ryan and to inform others about the risks of asthma patients not having close access to their inhaler.