CBBC star recalls the terrifying moment when he thought he was going to die from a condition that left him feeling like his lungs were ‘encased in cement’
CBBC host Raphael Olaiya recalls the terrifying moment when he thought he was going to die during an asthma attack.
The 30-year-old doctor has had the condition since he was a child, but had no idea he was suffering from it at the time of the attack.
He described the horrifying moment when he gasped as if his lungs were “encased in cement.”
Raphael told the Mirror“That sense of impending doom was visceral.
“I will never forget the horrible feeling of having to fight for every breath. It was terrifying.’
Horrifying: CBBC presenter Raphael Olaiya, 30, remembers the terrifying moment when he thought he was going to die during an asthma attack
Undiagnosed: The doctor has had the condition since he was a child, but had no idea he was suffering from it at the time of the attack
The children’s TV star, known as Dr Raph in Operation Ouch! which he hosts with his twin brother Daniel had not been diagnosed with asthma.
However, while at a friend’s birthday party at the age of six, he began to have trouble breathing while sitting next to a parent who smoked.
He lay down to lie down, but his breathing did not improve.
Raphael said, “I was fighting so hard to get air into my body, and I remember feeling incredibly clammy and nauseous.
“It was like my lungs were set in cement.
“I didn’t know what to do because I couldn’t even speak.”
Looking back, he can now see that he had an asthma attack and was in ‘extreme respiratory distress’.
Fortunately, his grandmother was present and saw the signs, prompting him to be rushed to hospital for treatment.
Terrifying: He described the horrifying moment when he gasped for air as if his lungs were ‘encased in cement’
Dr. Raph was then given a nebulizer to open his airways and make his breathing easier.
He was later sent home with an inhaler, but found himself in a similarly terrifying situation a few years later.
He was then correctly diagnosed and prescribed two inhalers to manage any symptoms.
Raph said, “Asthma isn’t taken seriously enough, and I know from working in a hospital that it can be incredibly dangerous, even deadly.”
Struggle: When he was at a friend’s birthday party at age six, he started having trouble breathing when he sat next to a parent who smoked