Helping kids with asthma lead a healthy lifestyle Asthmatic but active

If the condition is managed well, children with asthma can and should exercise regularly

- Elisa Chia

How could what seemed like a simple cough turn into a life-or-death situation for a toddler? Isa Baobid was 22 months old in January 2021 when he had a mild but persistent cough for about five days. His mum, Madam Victoria Phua, took him to a clinic where the paediatrician detected wheezing and advised close monitoring.

Isa's condition improved that week – until one night when he kept crying and his cough worsened before bedtime. As a precaution, Madam Phua took her son to KK Women's and Children's Hospital (KKH), where the boy was diagnosed with asthma after a weekend stay.

He was back to his happy self, but three weeks later, he was found breathing irregularly and crying non-stop.

Madam Phua, a 42-year-old public servant, says she instinctively knew her son was in an emergency situation and rushed him to KKH by car.

"The journey to the hospital was most agonising because I felt very helpless," she recounts. Upon arriving at the children's emergency, she remembers shouting for help: "He can't breathe, he's blue!"

Isa was hooked up to breathing tubes in the high dependency ward before being transferred to the children's intensive care unit.

"Reality hit home because what seemed like innocent coughing was now a life-or-death situation," Madam Phua says.

Thankfully, Isa, now five, recovered after treatment and his asthma is now under control.

ASTHMA ALMOST TOOK HIS LIFE TOO Looking at seven-year-old Tyler Rodrigues Rui Yang, one would be hard-pressed to tell that the sporty boy was diagnosed with asthma at age two.

In July 2022, he suffered an asthma attack so severe, it could have been fatal had his parents not sought prompt medical attention.

His mum, Mrs Rebecca Chia-Rodrigues, recalls taking him to a polyclinic because he had developed a cough the night before. He was also breathing deeply and had difficulty sleeping.