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\n18-year-old Jamason was diagnosed with asthma as an infant. He never really understood the dangers of secondhand smoke until it triggered a severe asthma attack. Jamason never smoked cigarettes. Even when friends tried to talk him into having one cigarette, he would reply, \u201cIt\u2019s just not cool to smoke.\u201d
\nJamason\u2019s worst attack occurred when he was 16, at a fast food restaurant where he worked. He was sweeping close to some coworkers who were smoking, and he started having trouble breathing. He called his mother, frantic for help. She found him at work gasping for air. He was hospitalized for 4 days.
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\n \n18-year-old Jamason has asthma. He never really understood the dangers of secondhand smoke until it triggered an asthma attack that he said almost killed him. \u201cI couldn\u2019t get air into my lungs. I was so scared. I couldn\u2019t breathe!\u201d he says. Jamason has never smoked cigarettes. Even when friends tried to talk him into it, he would reply, \u201cIt\u2019s just not cool to smoke.\u201d
\nAs an infant, Jamason was diagnosed with asthma that seemed manageable until his teens. His mother Sherri, who is a nurse, started noticing that when he hung out with friends who smoked, Jamason would wheeze and have trouble breathing.
\nHis worst attack occurred when he was 16 years old. It was at a fast food restaurant where he worked. He was sweeping close to some coworkers who were smoking. \u201cMy chest got really tight,\u201d says Jamason. \u201cI was just trying to breathe, trying to get air in my lungs. I couldn\u2019t bear it.\u201d Jamason called his mother, frantic for help. She found him struggling to breathe. Sherri remembers that day all too well. \u201cWhen I arrived, he was gasping and he told me he couldn\u2019t get air. I was very scared,\u201d she says. \u201cI just did whatever I could to save my child, because I know asthma attacks can be deadly.\u201d She drove Jamason to the hospital, where he stayed for 4 days. \u201cWhen secondhand smoke triggers your asthma, you don\u2019t know how severe the asthma attack is going to be,\u201d says Sherri.
\nThroughout his days at the hospital, Jamason had breathing treatments every 2 to 4 hours. When he was breathing comfortably again, he felt relieved but was afraid to leave the hospital. \u201cI wanted to go home,\u201d he says, \u201cbut, then again, I didn\u2019t, because I knew there was no smoking inside the hospital. But outside, in the real world, people smoke. I was afraid. I didn\u2019t want to have to go through that again.\u201d
\nJamason worries that at any time and anywhere, someone\u2019s cigarette smoke could trigger another asthma attack. It\u2019s a constant fear. Today, Jamason feels comfortable asking people not to smoke around him, and he shares with them the dangers of secondhand smoke. \u201cSecondhand smoke can trigger severe asthma attacks in people of all ages,\u201d he says. For Jamason, it\u2019s a matter of life and death. He explains that he parted ways with one friend who wouldn\u2019t stop smoking around him. \u201cI told him we just couldn\u2019t be friends anymore.\u201d
\nAfter high school, Jamason plans to go to college. He was excited to hear that there are smoke-free campuses. \u201cOh, wow; I didn\u2019t know that. I could go to college without worrying about having an asthma attack from breathing other people\u2019s smoke. That\u2019s very appealing!\u201d
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