In October 2012, the world learned a tragic lesson in how vital access to medication can be for those who live with this condition.<\/p>\n
Twelve\u2011year\u2011old\u00a0Ryan Gibbons<\/strong>, a Grade 7 student from Straffordville Public School, Ontario, Canada, loved life, sports, and being outdoors with friends and family.<\/p>\n Like so many children his age, Ryan enjoyed running, playing, and participating actively in school recess and sports activities with classmates.<\/p>\n On October 9, 2012, he arrived at school for what seemed like a typical day, unaware that it would end in heartbreak for his family and community.<\/p>\n Ryan had been diagnosed with asthma \u2014 a condition requiring regular management and, crucially, fast access to rescue medication known as an inhaler.<\/p>\n An asthma attack causes tightening of the muscles around airways, coughing, wheezing, and difficulty breathing, which can escalate rapidly without prompt intervention.<\/p>\n During recess, Ryan began to experience severe difficulty breathing, the classic signs of an exacerbation that demanded immediate action and an inhaler.<\/p>\n However, his rescue inhaler was not immediately accessible to him; it had been stored away in the principal\u2019s office under a school policy that restricted students\u2019 access to medication.<\/p>\n The policy treated all prescription medication as items that needed to be locked away, without distinction for emergency lifesaving devices like asthma inhalers.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/likya.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Ryan_Gibbons-768x356-1-600x356.jpg\")
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