Hi, my name's Lydia. I am in eighth grade right now. I struggle with a chronic lung disease called asthma.
Asthma hurts me a lot. Asthma ruined me. I used to have asthma attacks every week, and it was very scary for me because I couldn’t breathe at all. I felt like I was suffocating.
I struggle to play sports that I love, like soccer. Sometimes I have thoughts about quitting soccer because of my asthma. I lost my passion and my confidence in soccer because of asthma. But I shouldn’t have to quit sports I like because of asthma. I shouldn’t lose my confidence or my passion for soccer because of asthma.
I know so many people can agree with me that we shouldn’t quit things we love because of our illness or lose our passion because of our illness.
But sports aren’t the only thing asthma ruined for me. Asthma really ruined my breathing. Every day I started to have shortness of breath. It was so hard for me to breathe whenever I was in school, at home or honestly anywhere.
This year I had a project on nonprofits, and I found an organization to do the project on: the American Lung Association. I learned a lot about asthma through the American Lung Association. I also found out why I might have shortness of breath — it’s because of air pollution.
I learned how much damage air pollution can cause to our lungs and how we need to help our world to have clean air. Clean air can help prevent lung diseases.
I think the American Lung Association is a great organization for people who struggle with asthma or any other lung diseases. I recommended some of my friends who also struggle with asthma to the American Lung Association.
