Mum's 'toxic air' alert as son struggles in city

SIX-YEAR-OLD'S ASTHMA BATTLE BRINGS POLLUTION ISSUE INTO FOCUS

- STEPHANIE BALLOO

Blues fan Chester has been in hospital due to his health issues. Inset, doing a junior park run to aid his breathing

A BIRMINGHAM mum has urged parents to be aware of 'toxic air' in the city as her son struggles to breathe on the short walk to school.

Chloe, from Chelmsley Wood, warned people of the tangible dangers of air pollution after noticing three problems outside her child's primary school.

Her six-year-old son Chester suffers from asthma and has 'enough triggers' already with the cold weather. But people don't often think how leaving their car running, smoking and vaping on the school run can exacerbate issues for children like Chester, she said.

"Breathing is so fundamental to being alive, until you've been in that situation where you've seen your child - your pride and joy - plugged into a machine, it's beeping, you can see his oxygen levels, until that, you might not realise," she said.

"I didn't realise the implications until I'd been in that situation."

Though it's a "very short walk", no more than eight minutes, Chester can sometimes struggle with his breathing en route to school. She added: "The little road to go to the school is just full every single morning, both sides of the road with running cars and fumes."