Ronan O'Gara admits asthma left him surviving not thriving as a child
Ronan O'Gara described asthma as a 'hindrance' as he would be 'gasping for breath' and found it hard to compete. Picture: David Rogers/Getty Images
Ronan O’Gara has admitted his "frightening" experience with asthma left him “surviving as opposed to thriving” as a child and said coaches and parents should be educated on the signs and impact of the condition.
The former Ireland rugby international, whose asthma is now under control, described it as a “hindrance” as he would be “gasping for breath” and found it hard to compete.
“It was my normal,” he said, adding he felt as though he was going to have a heart attack every time he exercised.
He was speaking live from La Rochelle where he now coaches, at an event in Dublin to mark the Asthma Society of Ireland’s 50th year.
“Don’t get broken by it, I nearly did,” he said. “It was a very scary time because of that feeling of not being able to breathe.”
He said he was craving a solution, with his parents spending a lot of money on various tests and opinions but “back then it wasn’t as clear as it is nowadays”, which he credited to campaign work carried out by the Asthma Society of Ireland.
The Asthma Society said despite Ireland having the fourth highest rate of asthma in the world, with more than 400,000 sufferers, the disease is misunderstood and underestimated.
Chief executive Eilís Ní Chaithnía said asthma care in Ireland remained vastly under-resourced and renewed calls for asthma medication to be made free, noting some sufferers were going without their medication due to the costs.
“Asthma is most prevalent among lower socio-economic communities. Even before this current cost-of-living crisis, people have been forced to choose between their asthma medication and other costs,” she said.
She noted a recent survey of more than 1,200 people carried out by the Asthma Society, which found 45% had forgone their medication in the three months prior as they could not afford it.
Ms Ní Chaithnía also said the disease was underestimated, which is leading to an increase in asthma-related deaths here.
“One person died every five days from asthma in 2021 and it’s primarily people who genuinely thought the disease wasn’t really anything to worry about, as did their doctors,” she said.
Ms Ní Chaithnía said climate change was likely to cause higher incidents of asthma, while also worsening the condition of those with it already.
Respiratory consultant physician and professor of medicine at Trinity College Dublin Patrick Mitchell said Irish weather changing as a result of climate change was a “major concern” and “hugely significant” for asthma sufferers.
“Because it’s such a low-lying level of change, people aren’t that aware of it,” he said, adding increases in particulate matter driven by climate change could have a “devastating effect” on the lungs.
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