Asthma Inhalers Central

Asthma sufferers, be heartened. We share the company of great people who battled asthma and lived life to the fullest, one way or another. This entry is the first in a series of Famous Asthmatics. I hope we can draw inspiration from these resilient people. The first trio: Beethoven, St. Bernadette, and Dennis “The Menace” Rodman.

Ludwig van Beethoven, master composer and piano virtuoso. According to Voices from the Past, Beethoven “composed unforgettable music while railing against ‘bumbling doctors’ — the best physicians in Vienna — who were unable to give him relief from asthma.”

Bernadette Soubirous, a Saint of the Catholic Church and witness to the Our Lady of Lourdes’ apparitions. St. Bernadette suffered from asthma for most of her life. Wikipedia states that “during a severe asthma attack, she asked for water from the Lourdes spring, and her symptoms subsided, never to return”. A page dedicated to the saint tells of a poignant story — “When Bernadette had fits of asthma, which were very frequent, she was a pitiful sight. She never complained, and once the fits were over, she would say: ‘Thank you, dear Lord!’”

Dennis Rodman, basketball player and five-time world champion with the Detroit Pistons and the Chicago Bulls. Who would’ve thought that the bad boy is an asthma sufferer? Action Against Asthma shares that Rodman and other asthma-afflicted athletes “devote time and resources to carrying the message that asthma should not prevent people from pursuing their dreams–even in top-level athletic competition.”

More famous asthmatics coming soon.