Rosamund Adoo-Kissi-Debrah’s daughter Ella, who lived near the South Circular in London, became the first person in the UK to have air pollution listed as a cause of death
The mother of a nine-year-old girl who died from air pollution has said she feared her son would suffer the same fate – due to a new traffic measure.
Rosamund Adoo-Kissi-Debrah said her son Robert was this week discharged from asthma services at hospital, a day for which the family has been “patiently, dreaming and praying”. Her daughter Ella became the first person in the UK to have air pollution listed as a cause of death following her inquest in 2020, more than seven years after her passing.
The family live near the South Circular in Lewisham, southeast London, which Rosamund says has become busier since the summer of 2020 when the council introduced Low Traffic Neighbourhood (LTN) scheme. These try and reduce people cutting through residential areas but opponents of LTN schemes say they simply push the traffic elsewhere, including onto main roads like the South Circular. They also argue they are used as “cash cows” by councils.
Speaking yesterday, Rosamund said when this was introduced, she feared the worst for Robert, who was aged just 13 at the time. The campaigner posted on Instagram: “By 2018 we had managed with his dedicated medical team to get it (asthma) under control, then covid happened and LTNs were brought in.
“The car emissions on the South Circular went rocketing and for a long time the fear inside me was paramount. But we pressed on, stronger medicines, working as a team. I can’t congratulate him enough, he has worked diligently and for now he is a free young man but has to be careful and not take anything for granted; asthma is a chronic illness with no cure.”
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Ella, who also had asthma, was exposed to high pollution levels, her inquest was told. The coroner’s ruling for air pollution to be listed as a cause of death on Ella’s death certificate was a historic point in the fight for clean air for those living in cities.
Rosamund has been campaigning since, particularly as Robert has been in and out of hospital. He is one of Rosamund’s two other children; a set of twins, who are now 18.
Continuing her reflection on Instagram after Robert’s all-clear at King’s College Hospital this week, the mum said: “It was the day we have both been waiting patiently, dreaming and praying for, there were times it seemed hopeless and Mac would have to be transferred to adult asthma care but he was finally discharged from hospital by his Consultant.
“The feeling was indescribable as his mum. He officially had an asthma diagnosis at 1,which is unheard of, he is one of the youngest ever (diagnosis is normally from 5).
“His asthma was brought on by horrendous reflux. Do look it up if you’ve never heard of it. By the time of Ella’s passing his asthma was difficult to manage and we were frequent visitors to the ward, he was five.”
Pollution levels at the monitoring site closest to Ella’s home have been dropping since 2022, but they are still above World Health Organisation (WHO) guidelines today.
Louise Krupski, who is deputy mayor of Lewisham and cabinet member for environment, transport and climate action, said: “Lewisham Council have been actively working to improve air quality across the borough by encouraging greener travel and implementing innovative projects such as Schools Streets, installing digital sensors (air nodes) and the Roadvent project as well as securing funding to address air pollution such as the DEFRA Air Quality Grant and Superzone grant.
“The Laurence House Air Quality Monitoring Station is located on the South Circular. In 2022, the annual mean concentration of NO2 at the site was 25 µgm-3 and in 2024 this had reduced to 17.6 µgm-3.
“The annual mean concentrations of NO2 levels at this site are below the air quality objectives set by DEFRA, however they are above the WHO guideline NO2 value of 10 µgm-3.
“The air quality monitoring station was relocated in 2022, which was after the introduction of the ULEZ, so it is not possible to make a comparison. However, concentrations have been reducing since 2022.”