Wendy Williams

Name: Wendy Williams

Age: early 40s

Asthma: Severe asthma

Due to the severity of Wendy’s asthma, she has to get up two hours before leaving the house to take all her medicines and get ready. She has got used to this pattern now, but it is incredibly tiring. Her asthma also keeps her awake so she doesn’t get much sleep and wakes up a lot in the night. Wendy doesn’t have much of a social life and can feel very isolated. She has lost a lot of friends because of her condition and her relationship with her partner also broke down because of it.

She has been admitted to hospital many times for her asthma. Hospital admissions are stressful for Wendy and her two children, especially as she is a lone parent and has to find someone to look after them. Having severe asthma also means that Wendy has side effects from all the medicines she has to take, including high doses of steroids. As not many people understand severe asthma she feels like she’s suffering in silence a lot of the time. Despite this, she tries to stay positive and concentrate on living for today.

Our funded research looks at reducing the impact of asthma on lives like Wendy's.