"Please don't die today..." – A mother's fight against asthma

"I love you, mummy. Please don’t die today."

That’s what Jade Stevens’ five-year-old son whispered to her one morning before school.

For Jade, a mother-of-three from Wellington, those words captured the fear that comes with living – and parenting – while battling asthma.

Jade was diagnosed in her late 20s with brittle asthma – a rare and severe form of the disease, more commonly referred to now as severe or difficultto-control asthma.

At the time, she was being admitted to the hospital nearly every month, with long stays in intensive care and repeated courses of oral steroids.

All this while raising three young boys.

"I wanted to be the kind of mum who could be there for everything - every school pickup, every bedtime storybut instead, hospital beds replaced family dinners.

"I’ll never forget the moment I dropped my youngest off at school one day. He was just five. He kissed me goodbye, paused, and whispered, ‘I love you, Mummy. Please don’t die today.’

"I reassured him, but inside I was breaking. That fear – his and mine – was all too real."

Today, thanks to a biological treatment, Jade's condition is under control and her symptoms are manageable.

"The treatment gave me my life back.

"The hospital visits have become rare, and I’ve finally been able to stop taking steroids."

Her children are now teenagers and she’s able to be the mum she always wanted to be at the beginning, she says.

"I can go to my eldest son’s band Intercite gigs, school events, quad bike adventures, or just sit on the couch and watch a movie without them having to worry that Mum might be going to hospital again."

Foundation NZ Chief Executive Letitia Harding says Jade’s story shows the reality of asthma that many New Zealanders are still unaware of.

"Jade’s experience is a reminder that asthma can affect people in very different ways, and for some, it’s far more serious than many realise.”

In New Zealand, asthma affects 1 in 8 adults and children, kills an average of 96 people each year, and is responsible for the hospitalisations of thousands of children – many of whom will have had a potentially life-threatening asthma attack.