03/02/2026
Originally from France and now living in Toronto, Alissia Gesret’s family history has been shaped by asthma following the death of her uncle, Franck:
“My family name is known in the paramedical field for a breakthrough in non-invasive asthma treatment. What led to that discovery, however, is rooted in tragedy.
To understand it, you need to meet my uncle, Franck.
To tell his story, I need to take you back to July 15th, 1974.
This is not just any summer day. It is Franck’s tenth birthday.
For the occasion, my father – Franck’s older brother – has organized everything. Friends and neighbors gather to celebrate. Franck runs, laughs, and plays like any other child his age.
Later in the day, my father looks for his brother and finds him locked in the bathroom. Franck is using his inhaler, exhausted, trying to catch his breath after simply being a child. Between two puffs, he looks at my father and says, “You’re lucky you’re not sick.”
Those words carve themselves into my father’s memory forever.
Later that day, Franck’s parents are angry, he has used up all the inhalers. Franck is crying so hard that his breathing worsens. He is already gasping for air.
He runs toward his bedroom but never reaches it. Franck collapses in the hallway. An asthma attack, followed by cardiac arrest.
Because the family lives in the countryside, emergency responders arrive too late. Franck is pronounced dead at the hospital.
I am grateful that Franck at least spent that day laughing, playing, and being surrounded by other children he loved, one last time.
Franck’s story is one of countless stories shaped by asthma and trauma. But I choose to keep telling my uncle’s story. To advocate for him, and for the many children who are still fighting, every day, just to breathe.”
