This is Life + Breath: The Stories of Toxic Air
Air pollution contributes to up to 43,000 early deaths in the UK every year. It’s a risk to our lungs at every stage of life. For people with lung conditions, air pollution is a constant threat.
This is Life + Breath: The Stories of Toxic Air tells the real-life stories of individuals most affected by toxic air, including those with lung conditions and the dedicated campaigners fighting for clean air.
If you are currently living with a lung condition, or care for someone who does, and are impacted by air pollution, we’d love to hear from you. Share your story and learn more about our clean air campaigning.
Anjali, London
Anjali went to primary school with Ella Adoo-Kissi-Debrah, who died aged nine after an asthma attack and was the first person in the world to have air pollution listed as a cause of their death. Anjali and her friends were so angry about the impact of toxic air on Ella and everyone else living in the most polluted areas of south London, they created the Choked Up campaign to raise awareness.
“People like us, living in poorer areas of London and from marginalised communities, were being overexposed to air pollution but no one was really talking about it,” she says. “We felt this was awful because our lives were clearly being valued less than the lives of people from richer neighbourhoods and different backgrounds. That’s why we set up this campaign – to make sure our lives would be protected.”
Kelly, Romford
Kelly was forced to move out of central London after she had 14 life-threatening asthma attacks in a year that she believes were caused by toxic air. “We had to move out to Romford because it was putting my life at risk. My asthma has been stable since then, but now I'm worried my one-year-old daughter Ada might have asthma too,” she says.
“We’ve already had to take her to hospital twice. The first time, Ada woke up screaming and struggling to breathe. We called an ambulance. They put her on a nebuliser and did everything to her that they've done to treat me in the past. A couple of months later, Ada had breathing difficulties again and was blue-lighted to hospital. I never want to see her struggling to breathe again, so we’ve decided to move further out of London to the seaside.”
Niah, Birmingham
Niah was diagnosed with asthma at the age of just seven. She lives near Birmingham’s ‘Spaghetti Junction’, which more than 200,000 vehicles pass through every day. “I’m more aware of the impact that traffic fumes have on my asthma now that I’m at secondary school,” says Niah. “The area where I catch the bus to school is very highly polluted, and I’ve had to take more time off since being at secondary school. I don’t cough as much during the school holidays either.
“I think it’s important to improve air quality as quickly as possible so that future generations don’t suffer from breathing problems. I’m very active when I’m feeling well. But when my asthma’s bad, I can’t even walk up the stairs without being out of breath.”
Agnes, London
“I'm a mother of three, and all the work I do stems from my own lived experience. My daughter's asthmatic. When she started school, we had to walk down a congested route. Within a month, she started getting really, really ill: she was hospitalised three times and diagnosed with pneumonia.
“I’m raising awareness around the negative effects that air pollution has on Black communities because we are three times more likely to breathe illegal levels of air pollution. But when we look at the conversations around air pollution, we see that Black communities are often missing from these. So it's really important that we raise this awareness so that communities are aware and that we can fight to make sure that tangible actions and support are coming our way.”
Liz, Perth
Liz was diagnosed with bronchiectasis nine years ago. Like many people with lung conditions, she finds that pollution from wood burning stoves makes her breathless. Liz says: “There are wood burning stoves in houses nearby. Every time they are on and the smoke pollutants start to fill the air, my bronchiectasis flares up and I begin to wheeze and cough.”
“I can’t go outside when pollutants are bad, and I have to keep my windows and doors closed. It upsets me as it reduces what I can do, and I can’t change that I have bronchiectasis – I can only try to prevent it getting worse. I know it’s hard at the moment with people struggling with the cost of living and looking at alternative ways of heating their homes, but people just aren’t aware of the health issues of burning wood.”
Maksim, Manchester
“I was diagnosed with asthma when I was seven, when I had my first asthma attack. I likely have asthma because of air pollution – I live next to one of the most polluted roads in the UK. Fighting for clean air is important because air pollution causes asthma and lung disease for young people – even when our lungs are still growing.”
Maksim is a vocal clean air campaigner, having spoken at COP26 and several Asthma + Lung UK events. “What inspires me is my mother,” says Maksim. His mother Julia won a court case preventing the local council from creating a new car park next to his primary school. “She didn’t want me and my siblings to be breathing in polluted air. She showed me that everyone has a voice, including me.”
Kashif, Bradford
Kashif was diagnosed with asthma 10 years ago. His two sons, brother and niece also have asthma, which Kashif believes is made worse by the poor air quality near their shared home in Bradford.
“I think that air pollution is a trigger for all of us,” says Kashif. “I've lived in this house since I was three years old. The amount of cars that I see here now, compared to when I was younger, has maybe tripled. And I know that air pollution is even worse for people who live nearer to the city where there’s more traffic. We have thought about moving further out of the city, but we've put time and effort into where we live, and if we moved away I’d feel like I was abandoning where I come from.”
Ssega, London
Ssega is the founder of LIVE + BREATHE, a Black-led clean air movement that has brought together musicians, artists, activists and community groups in south London to make a big noise about air pollution. Through music, art, dance, poetry and sport, supporters from Lambeth and Southwark have found innovative, inspiring ways to demand urgent action from councils and the government on toxic air.
“Creative arts have a massive role to play in getting people’s attention on the harmful effects of air pollution,” says Ssega, a founding member of the band Clean Bandit. “Our project is empowering, inclusive, fun and colourful. We can bring hope – by listening to under-represented voices for the first time and showing that they do want to get involved in campaigning for clean air.”
Donna, Birmingham
Donna’s daughter, Hannah-Louise, was just two years old when she had to be rushed to hospital because she couldn’t breathe. At the time, they lived near ‘Spaghetti Junction’ – one of Europe’s busiest motorway interchanges. “It was really frightening,” says Donna. “Hannah was gasping for breath and blue in the lips. She had to be given three nebulisers. She was then put on oxygen for three days and had to stay in hospital for two weeks.
“I’m a mum of eight and I’ve told all of my children to move away when they’re older to get away from this air pollution because it’s not healthy for them. Air pollution is like an invisible killer. You can’t really see it, you can’t really smell it, but the impact of how it can affect your lungs can be deadly.”
Dave, Rochdale
"I’ve lived on the outskirts of Manchester all my life, but the city has expanded so rapidly and become so polluted that it’s often impossible for me to visit the centre now.” Dave has bronchiectasis, which can make his lungs congested. When air pollution levels are high in the city centre it makes him feel like he is “slowly suffocating”.
“It’s like Manchester is in the dark ages in terms of tackling air pollution – it’s being left behind by other cities,” says Dave, who is a cycling coach. “Bradford is nowhere near the size of Manchester, but they’ve managed to implement a clean air zone and make it work. There was resistance, but they’ve got through it and are really benefitting. The government and local authorities need to work together urgently so everyone can breathe cleaner air.”
Chris O’Donovan
Chris O’Donovan is an award winning, London based portrait and documentary photographer.
Renowned for his portraiture and social documentary work, he strives to explore the complex relationship between subject and photographer. His considered approach and ability to connect with his subjects allows his images a dreamy and timeless quality while always remaining honest and true. Driven by his self-initiated personal projects, Chris seeks to fully understand the lives of those he captures in order to portray them as truthfully as possible.
His portraits have won numerous awards, among which are Portrait of Britain, Portrait of Humanity, Royal Photography Society and this year he was shortlisted in the prestigious Taylor Wessing Portrait Awards at London’s National Portrait Gallery. Chris has exhibited extensively, and his work published worldwide
When Chris isn’t searching to make the perfect portrait, he enjoys nothing more than spending time with his wife and son at their home in South London.