A Brief History of the Asthma Foundations

‘Crusaders’ is the only description for the men and women who first established the Asthma Foundations throughout Australia. They passionately pursued the goals of supporting community services, education and scientific research into asthma. Here is a glimpse of their story.

In the 1950’s in Australia, the mother of a child with asthma was regarded as the main reason for her child’s illness. Children were also blamed for causing their own asthma as an ‘attention-seeking’ or ‘control’ device. At that time, an asthma attack was, frequently, a life and death situation.

Mickie Halliday (later Hardie) and Leila Schmidt all too frequently saw their children at risk of death from asthma. Each spent years constantly on her guard to stop the disease killing her child. Each experienced the terrifying nights, the fights for breath, the feelings of hopelessness and helplessness, the fatigue and the fear that perhaps, as a mother, she was making things worse. Each was held responsible for her child’s asthma.

At the time, many other mothers were suffering the same anxiety from being regarded as the cause. Rendered helpless and despairing in this climate, unable to get a coherent and rational explanation from the medical profession or even some respect for their own hard won experience, Mickie and Leila were propelled into finding their own solution. These two mothers founded the Asthma Foundation of New South Wales in 1962.

Mickie was the visionary for a national organisation. Very early on she floated the idea of forming foundations in other states. In July 1963, she wrote to Mrs. Betty McGregor to ask if she would assume responsibility for forming an asthma foundation in Queensland. Dr Ion Morrison was persuaded to join forces with Mrs McGregor and they became the prime motivators in establishing the Asthma Foundation of Queensland under the presidency of Sir Charles Davidson.

The Asthma Foundation of Queensland provisional committee was established on 3 August 1964. A hallmark of the Foundation has been the remarkable stability in the composition of the Board and management. In 40 years there have been only six presidents of the Foundation in Queensland.

After forty years, a cure for asthma has yet to be found, but the illness can be managed well. People with asthma no longer need to endure the coughing, wheezing, breathlessness and tightness of the chest. These debilitating symptoms can all be treated. The greatest risk remains the tendency of people with asthma to underestimate their condition and misuse their medication. Campaigns to redress this problem are a constant activity for The Asthma Foundation of Queensland.

Excerpt from: "Coming up for air: The history of the Asthma Foundation of New South Wales". (2003) Babette Smith. Rosenberg Publishing. Dural.

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