Every day, 10 people in the United States suffer asthma attacks so severe that they die, even if they are immediately rushed to the hospital.
That’s what happened to 13-year-old Broadway actress Laurel Griggs. The girl, who debuted on Broadway at age 6 and had appeared on TV’s “Saturday Night Live,” died after suffering a “massive asthma attack” while doing her homework in her family’s Manhattan apartment last week, Page Six reported.
The girl called out to her father that she wasn’t feeling “so good.”
“She said, “I don’t think I feel so good,’ which immediately set off all the alarms in my head,” her father, Andy Griggs, told Page Six on Sunday. “She would never normally say something like that.”
As Laurel’s breathing became labored, her parents realized they needed to get her to the hospital right away and called 911, Page Six said. Police tried to perform CPR as they rushed her to Mount Sinai Hospital, but she died four laters later.
Her death, sadly, serves as a reminder that asthma is common and can be deadly. The Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America, citing figures from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said that 3,564 people died from asthma in 2017.
For many more, asthma is a chronic health condition that can lead to missed days at school or work, frequent doctors’ visits and even hospitalizations.
More than 25 million Americans have asthma, making it one of the country’s most common and costly diseases, the Asthma and Allergy foundation said. More than 11.4 million people, including more than 3 million children, reported having had one or more asthma episodes or attacks in 2017, the foundation said. In 2015, nearly 50 percent of children ages 18 and under with asthma reported suffering one or more attacks in the past year.
During an attack, the lining of the airways becomes swollen or inflamed, and the mucous thickens. This leads to difficulty breathing, wheezing, coughing and shortness of breath, according to WebMD.com.
If a person doesn’t get an immediate dose of their asthma medication, which usually consists of a quick-relief inhaler, or other treatment, her breathing may become more labored as the lungs tighten, WebMD.com said. A severe attack happens when there is not enough air movement to produce wheezing. A person needs to get to the hospital immediately.
Without immediate aggressive treatment in an emergency room or in an intensive care unit, a person won’t get enough oxygen into her blood and can lose consciousness and possibly die, WebMD.com added.
Andy Griggs told Page Six that his daughter was born with asthma and took medication to manage her condition. She suffered a similar serious attack three years ago, which he said prompted him and her mother to closely monitor her health.
Laurel made her Broadway debut in 2013, appearing with Scarlett Johansson in “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof,” People reported. She is best known for her role as Ivanka in the Tony-winning production of “Once.” She performed the role for 17 months between 2013 and 2015.
For the screen, Laurel appeared in the 2016 Woody Allen romantic comedy “Cafe Society.” alongside Steve Carell, Blake Lively and Kristen Stewart, and she was featured in several episodes of “Saturday Night Live,” People added.
Days before her death, Laurel auditioned to attend the famed LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts, her relatives told Page Six.
“She did in 13 years what most people can’t do in a lifetime,” her grandfather, David Rivlin, said. “She was incredibly multi-talented, and her life was a balancing act.”