Bettina Wallrafen

Bettina suffers from asthma but doesn't let this stop her exercising. Her asthma was diagnosed in 1991 as an occupational disease, probably caused by formaldehyde. For about a year, she was unable to enjoy the sports she'd played as a child.

Gradually, she began to resume exercising and today she is fully active again, enjoying a range of sports from Nordic Walking, dancing, inline skating, marathon, trampoline, aerobics and gymnastics.

Bettina’s story:

“I felt terrible when I couldn’t exercise. My moto in life is “You snooze, you lose” and I’ve always been active. Sport has helped me to improve my fitness and has made me feel more powerful and tougher in the face of asthma attacks.

“Even if I have an asthma attack, using breathing exercises has helped me feel safer.

“Exercising has definitely helped me to improve my asthma. At work I’m less frequent ill and able to cope with heavy workload. People who don’t know me would never think that I’m ill.”

TOTAL NUMBER OF TESTS:

67, 262

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WSD is an initiative organised by the Forum of International Respiratory Societies (FIRS) in collaboration with the European Lung Foundation (ELF).