On one of the hottest days of the year in 2017, Dominique Hornsey suddenly collapsed and died after struggling to breathe in the boiling heat. Now her sister is sharing her story to warn others this heatwave
While the baking hot weather gives Brits a chance to get out and enjoy the sun, for Gabbiee Hornsey, the heatwave is a painful reminder of the day she lost her beloved sister.
It was during one of the hottest days of the year, this week eight years ago on June 17, 2017, that her sister Dominique, aged just 19, died suddenly from an asthma attack, leaving behind her then five-month-old baby son. She had been hospitalised six times over the years because of her asthma, and it’s believed the fatal attack was triggered by the hot weather.
Gabbiee, 31, from Port Talbot, South Wales, remembers what happened like it was yesterday. She says her sister had appeared fine earlier in the day, where they’d been at a football festival with their cousins. “Domi was four years younger than me, and while I’d always been quiet and sensible, she was cheeky and larger than life,” Gabbiee told the Mirror.
“Domi had just been her usual loud, bubbly self. There was no warning of what was to come.” Gabbiee, who was also diagnosed with asthma as a teenager, worried that her sister’s symptoms had gradually been getting worse. “She was always puffing on her blue reliever inhaler, but she was so busy being a mum and living her life, that she just shrugged every time I suggested she see a doctor,” she explained.
Domi lived a few miles from Gabbiee with their grandma in Britton Ferry, so they’d try and meet up a couple of times a week and keep in touch over the phone. Minutes before the tragedy, Domi had spoken to her older sister on the phone about her plans to put enough money away to take her son, Kayden-James, to Disneyland for his fifth birthday.
“It was her big dream, and despite being so young, her baby boy was the centre of her life,” Gabbiee said. “The following day, we planned to take Kayden-James, and my two kids – Esmae, then four, and Reagan, three, for a picnic in the park. As I said goodbye, I had no idea that was the last time I’d ever speak to her.”
She had put the phone down at 8.40pm and just 20 minutes later, Domi called out to their gran that she felt ill and collapsed on the stairs. By 9.15pm she was dead. Her asthma attack caused cardiac arrest.
CPR was performed until the paramedics arrived, but nothing could have been done to save her. “Even after all those years, I can’t describe the aftermath of Domi’s death. For me, it was a fuzzy fog of grief, longing, and the most indescribable fear,” she recalled.
“Domi hadn’t just been my sister, she was my best friend, and my kids adored her too. Esmae kept asking where she was, and telling her that her kind, crazy auntie was in heaven was one of the hardest things I’ve had to do. But it never felt like Domi was far away, and I’d she’d send me little messages, like dropping a white feather in front of me when I felt sad.”
Gabbiee can’t find the words to describe the Domi-sized hole missing from their family, with her little nephew left without his loving mother. As a single mum-of-two, Gabbiee became terrified that something would also happen to her, and that she could have an asthma attack in the middle of the night, with her children waking up to find her gone.
“Grief made me irrational, and for a while I couldn’t cope. The grief I felt was absolutely visceral, and I literally couldn’t eat. In the first few years after her death, I lost 8 stone, and worked to be as healthy as I could be to feel far more in control of my health and my lungs.”
She channelled her sadness and fear into something positive, and began fundraising to raise awareness of how serious asthma can be for charity Asthma + Lung UK. “What is so shocking is that there was absolutely no warning of an imminent asthma attack, because Dominique had been completely fine when I spoke to her,” Gabbiee said. “The only thing I can think that can have caused her to become wheezy is the fact that it was incredibly hot that day, which often triggered Dominique’s symptoms.”
“I hope by sharing Domi’s story I can make a difference, and help people to protect their lungs, especially in the hot weather.” This weekend the family is marking the anniversary of Domi’s death with a picnic on the beach, with Gabbiee saying “I know she’ll be watching over us.”
“She’d be so proud of Kayden-James, who is being brought up by his dad with help from my family. At eight, he’s such a chatty, cheeky little boy and so like his mum, and it breaks my heart that he’s not here to see him grow up.”
Managing asthma during a heatwave
Asthma + Lung UK survey data tells us that summer can be a difficult time for people with asthma, as more than a third (34%) are triggered by hot weather, and 7 out of 10 (71%) by changes to the weather. But other triggers like air pollution, pollen, thunder, chlorine and alcohol can also be problematic.
These are its tips for managing asthma during the hot weather:
- Always have your reliever (usually blue) inhaler with you. But if you need to use it more than three times a week, that is a sign that your asthma is not controlled, and you need to see your GP or asthma nurse.
- Take your preventer inhaler every day. This will help by build up protection in your airways over time and reduce the risk of hot weather affecting your condition.
- If you are triggered by pollen, take antihistamines and use a nasal spray.
- Try and avoid the heat by only going out early in the morning and during the evening when it is cooler.
For more advice on how to look after your lungs in the warmer weather, visit Asthma + Lung UK’s personalised Summer Health Guide here.
