Taking part in the Hope Half Hour with severe asthma
We're so proud of all our hope half hour heroes, together you raised over £40,000! Here Nicki tells us why she took part and what she enjoyed about the 30 minutes a day new year walking challenge.
My name is Nicki and I am 55 and live in the rural county of Shropshire. I’ve lived here for 19 years now and am enjoying the ability to step outside my front door and walk to my heart’s content - when I feel well!
My story
I have had asthma since I was 9 months old, and this has affected me in varying degrees throughout my life. I have had bouts of regular trips to hospital and have been in ICU on a ventilator. Now, I’ve been free of these major attacks for several years, but still have continual wheeze and breathlessness. I have recently been diagnosed with eosinophilic asthma and am on a trial programme of biological injections of Dupilumab, which I travel monthly to Birmingham to receive - the staff at Birmingham Heartlands Hospital Severe Asthma Unit are fantastic!
Why I decided to do the Hope Half Hour
I signed up to the Hope Half Hour because I wanted to raise money for Asthma UK, to give something back. I felt that the challenge would be achievable and that the target to raise was also realistic. Unfortunately, I was unable to walk 31 consecutive days due to illness, which I think is inevitable for people with asthma at this time of year. But I did walk for 31 days, finishing on 4th February and all my sponsors were very supportive. I managed to raise just under £200.
Although not a large amount, I feel that if we all raised between £100-200 this not only raises much needed funds for research, but it also raises the profile of asthma and other lung diseases. There are many different types of asthma, some people cope with just the salbutamol inhaler, but others, like me, need steroid inhalers, take daily Prednisolone and cannot go out of the house without their salbutamol inhaler. However, I continue to live as best I can, and take part in such great challenges as Hope Half Hour.
I really enjoyed the walks, sometimes on good days I walked for nearly 1.5 hours, on other days, just the 30 minutes. I will continue to walk as it lifts the soul and is good to boost serotonin levels - especially as we had such great weather for our walks throughout January 2022.
What would I say to someone thinking about taking on a challenge like this? Well, I would say, why not? I hope to do the challenge again next year and you can too - walk with someone, make a date to get out of the house in January, even factor in a cuppa en-route. Do whatever it takes to raise awareness of Asthma UK - be part of the group, there is great support from everyone.
There is still time to support our Hope Half Hour Heroes by making a donation to our event page
We empower people with asthma to make changes that can be transformative.
Please donate now to help make sure people with asthma can live well this year.