Girl, 6, put into coma by doctors after having 'nightmare' asthma attack

12 June 2024 , 19:01

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Martha Bartle was placed in a coma after a bad asthma attack

A young girl who experienced a "nightmare" heart attack was so struck down that doctors were forced to place her in a medically-induced coma.

Despite suffering from asthma, Martha Bartle, six, refused to take her inhaler each day, leading to a near-fatal asthma attack in which doctors struggled to get her breathing under control. Her mother, Jo, told how the experience was "like being in a real-life nightmare" as her body "started to shut down".

Speaking to Yorkshire Live, Ms Bartle said medics were unable to correct her breathing "after several hours", ultimately deciding to put her into an induced coma so they could take over her breathing and ensure her body could rest. Martha's dad, Nic, said the experience was a "massive shock" akin to "an out-of-body experience".

He said his daughter "was on a lot of drugs" during the "emotionally traumatic time". The initial ordeal was the start of two weeks in hospital after which Martha still refused to take her inhaler.

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Ms Bartle explained: "After one week they brought her out of the coma but she had to spend another week in hospital recovering from her ordeal." She added: "She would refuse to take her inhaler each day, and as a parent, it was just awful to watch.

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"You can’t get mad in that situation, and we tried everything to encourage her." The youngster didn't change her attitude to her inhaler until a close family friend sparked an "almost immediate improvement in her health".

Will Hogge designed an all-new case for the youngster incorporating some of her favourite themes in a bid to make the tool slightly more appealing. His first design, a unicorn inhaler, finally started to help her see the item as "fun and less scary".

Ms Bartle said: "She started calling it her unicorn spray. Straight away she started to use the inhaler and we noticed an almost immediate improvement in her health." Will has since started making the cases for other families, and a study inspired by Martha's case has seen doctors look at ways to reduce the number of children not using their inhalers, with around four people a day dying from the condition.

Megan Shaw