Tyler Sparrow

I’m running the London Marathon 2025 to fight for lung health!

My Story - Please breathe, and Donate. 

You can't breathe... 1,2,3,... what do you do... 4,5,6... this is the worst feeling that I can imagine, and it's terrifying. I have had this feeling myself but this story is not about me. This story is about our daughter, Aurora and her struggles with Asthma and her lungs. 

At birth there were major problems and an emergency C-section. The cause was her umbilical cord, being wrapped around her neck and body 4 times, suffocating her with each contraction... With the heart rate plummeting, me trying to comfort my wife, and not show the panic that I felt, the doctors did what they had to and saved our little princess. 

By this time, we knew that we were lucky, but we did not know what we had in store. The first time that Aurora struggled to breathe, she was much too young to know what was happening or to tell us she needed help. We heard the wheezing and hacking and saw her skin being sucked in around her neck and ribs. I drove faster than I had ever previously, with my daughter in the car, to get her to BC Children's hospital. 

When we arrived at the hospital the nurse took one look and rushed her in immediately, assuring us that we had done the right thing by bringing her in. This was our introduction to asthma. Neither of us have had this as part of our lives and we did not know a lot about it. We were given two different kinds of puffers and Aurora was hooked up to oxygen and constantly monitored over the next three days and slept at two different hospitals. My wife and I got very little sleep but our little Princess would be okay. 

We have been to the hospital more times than we can count and including a very scary Christmas Day visit. While Aurora always keeps our spirits up and has all the nurses dancing and singing with "the girl with Asthma", she gives us a scare every time we hear her cough. It is not always easy to tell whether it is a cold she has picked up from daycare or something much more concerning. We have learned to look for the signs and try not to panic before investigating. 

Luckily our little princess took to puffers quickly and knows to tell us if she feels like something is wrong at this point. I have switched jobs to be more available if anything happens and we have built our lives to make sure that we can always take care of our daughter and she never has to be without breath.

Our story may not be the most horrific, nor the easiest, but it sure takes up a lot of my thoughts as I go about my days and weeks. More recently, my brother, someone that I have looked up to my whole life and has been a best friend of mine, has had a terrible incident that left him without breath, as his lung collapsed. I am so thankful that he was encouraged to get to the hospital to find this out and get the treatment he needed. 

As you think of those closest to you, remember how lucky we are to have our breath, something that is quite possibly the most basic human bodily function, and one that we rarely think about. Let's think about this more. While you have your breath, and appreciate it, please donate so that those that are at times, without theirs will get the help they need. This way, they will be able to live to see more days, and more life, and breath in and out for as long as possible. 

I will be training vigorously for this race, a 42.2 kilometer full marathon, and I will enjoy every breath that I know I am so lucky to take. Thank you for your donation and I appreciate each and every donation, no matter how big or small, you all have a place in my heart (or maybe my lungs)... 

Breathe Easy,