Ben’s dad took him home. “My husband called me and said, ‘Have you ever done a nebulizer treatment and have it not work?’ and I said, ‘No,’ and at that point he realized something was wrong,” Buckley said.

Forty minutes after they left the basketball game, Ben was unconscious in their driveway. A police officer was giving him CPR. Ben was rushed to a hospital where a team worked to revive him. They got his heart beating again, but doctors said Ben had minimal brain activity. Days later, Ben was removed from life support and died.

Bryan Proctor Photo.

Cristin Buckley has been raising awareness about asthma since her son’s death in 2014.

Buckley of Southington said she never knew you could die from an asthma attack but by the time she learned that it was possible, it was too late.

In 2017, 3,564 people nationally died of asthma, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). That’s 10 people a day. In Connecticut, 38 people died that year. The CDC reports that most asthma deaths are avoidable with proper treatment and care.

In Connecticut, about 299,336 people are living with asthma. Nationally, 25 million Americans have asthma; about 7.7% are adults and 8.4% are children.

“The asthma rate in Connecticut is about 10% in children and 10% in adults,” said Michelle Caul, director, Eastern Division, Health Promotions at American Lung Association.

She said that an asthma diagnosis can be challenging with children.

“Sometimes the only symptom that presents in children is coughing, and obviously coughing is a symptom of 1,000 other things, so ruling out all of those other things in order to get an asthma diagnosis can sometimes be difficult,” Caul said.

Giving Back To Community

Buckley didn’t know her son’s asthma wasn’t well controlled until after his death, when she was in Washington, D.C., attending Asthma and Allergy Day at Capitol Hill with her husband. While listening to a doctor speak about the signs of asthma not being well controlled, she said, she realized what happened to Ben.

“Nobody had ever told us that [Ben’s] asthma wasn’t well controlled,” she said. “Nobody ever told us that you shouldn’t be using albuterol [a rescue inhaler] that much, that his asthma wasn’t controlled, and we had no idea. He was going to his regular appointments with his asthma doctor. He went to his pediatrician. No one ever told us.”

That moment of realization is what motivated Buckley to do what she views as her most important role as a parent who has lost a child to asthma—raising awareness about asthma and supporting community programs, especially in the arts. Ben aspired to be an artist.

Buckley Family Photo.

Ben Buckley

Buckley and her husband, Jeffrey, decided to form a nonprofit, Ben Was Here. The seed money for the nonprofit came from about $40,000 in donations that they received while Ben was hospitalized.

“We were talking in the hospital, and my husband said, ‘I don’t want to keep this. You should do something with it,’” she said. So, we decided to start a nonprofit.

Over the years, the funds raised have been donated to the elementary school their children attend, a program dedicated to cultural arts in Southington, iPads for children in the school where Buckley taught, the library building project, and to help cover the cost of prescriptions for asthma medication.

Buckley said the foundation tries to help anybody it can.

In talking about what she’s most proud of Buckley said, “I think I’m really proud of the awareness we’re bringing about asthma to the state.”

Awareness about uncontrolled asthma is particularly important. Caul says there’s a quick formula to determine if a rescue inhaler is being used too often.

“If you’re taking your quick-relief inhaler more than two times per week, and you’re waking up at night with asthma symptoms more than two times per month, and if you’re refilling your quick-relief inhaler more than two times per year, your asthma is probably not well-controlled.”

To help take care of someone with asthma, Caul said, its important educate yourself. “The American Lung Association has an online program, which is free of charge, with an hour-long module called asthma basics. It’s a good starting place for parents of children with asthma, anybody who has asthma, or anybody who is a caretaker of somebody with asthma.”

She also said to ask questions and stay in contact with you doctor.

“If you feel like your child’s asthma is not well controlled, you should be in contact with your primary care physician.”

For information on Ben Was Here click this link.

Bryan Proctor

Bryan is a senior in his last semester studying journalism and history at Quinnipiac University. He plans to work as a full-time journalist after graduation in his home state of Massachusetts. In his free time, you can find him playing guitar, watching movies, or hiking outdoors.

Kelsey, an 18-year-old high school senior, was grieving over the loss of her beloved black cat, and wanted to memorialize their companionship.

“I want to do something of sentimental value but I’m scared of it not coming out the way I like,” said Kelsey, 18, who did not wish to give her last name.

She’s part of a growing trend. Body modification, especially professional tattooing, has become more popular in recent years. Almost half of Americans have a tattoo, according to a 2017 study by the Pew Research Center.

That study also found that tattoos are more common in the younger community, with 38 percent of people in the U.S. between the ages of 18 and 29 having at least one tattoo.

But few tattoo enthusiasts realize that there are few controls over the ink that gets injected into the skin, the body’s largest organ and one particularly vulnerable to toxic substances. A recent FDA recall underscores the risks.

On May 15, the  Food & Drug Administration (FDA) issued a voluntary recall of six different tattoo inks after finding harmful bacteria during a microbiological examination on May 14. The bacteria found in the inks carries a higher risk for infections and health complications. (See the list of inks and symptoms to watch out for here.)

iStock Photo by Vadym Terlyuk.

Health experts recommend that you request to review a material safety data sheet when getting a tattoo.

“As a toxicologist, I don’t really like the idea of a tattoo and the regulation on the tattoo inks and dilutants are pretty light,” said Dr. Steven Gilbert, director and founder of the Institute of Neurotoxicology and Neurological Disorders in Seattle “Are you really sure if you go get a tattoo that the compounds they’re injecting are not toxic and you won’t have an allergic reaction to them? I think it’s really unfortunate that people are taking a risk.”

Those risks include blood-borne pathogens, infections, and MRI complications. According to a 2016 European Union report, metallic-based inks are known to interfere with magnetic resonance imaging (MRIs) and can cause minor burns.

How the body reacts to the tattoo is dependent on variables like a person’s sensitivity and the type of ink inserted.

While it regulates ingredients, the FDA has not approved any tattoo pigment for injection into the skin. The FDA has been urged to conduct additional research on the inks and pigments, which is what gives the ink its color.

While there are organic pigments called AZO pigments available, multiple studies found that AZO pigments contain aromatic amines, which are known carcinogens.  These could increase the risk of adverse health effects as they break down, experts say.

Sometimes the ink used isn’t meant for human skin.  According to the FDA website “There are reports in the published scientific literature of tattoo inks that contain everything from pigments used in printer toner to pigments used in car paint.”

Tattoos drawn with carbon-based black inks are considered to be safer than other inks, according to the EU report.

“You have no idea, you go into a tattoo parlor and you know, I bet most people don’t ask to see an MSD (Material Safety Data) sheet, you don’t know what this material is made up of, and what the hazards associated with the materials used to color your skin are,” said Gilbert.

Most public health departments, such as the Quinnipiack Valley Health District, monitor tattoo shops.

“Quinnipiack Valley Health District really wants to make things better and healthier for the community,” said Leslie Balch, director of the health district.

Balch’s team inspects and licenses the tattoo parlors in their jurisdiction once a year. Among the things they look for are that artists follow proper blood-borne pathogen protocol, have adequate lighting and clean working spaces.

“Nobody really has a good handle on what the long-term consequences of chronic long-term exposure to tattoo inks is,” said Dr. Gilbert, “You have to ask, what is the consequence of long-term chronic exposure to tattoo pigments? The good thing is there’s not a whole lot of obvious or visible reactions to tattoo pigments by most people. But the question is as we age, what are the consequences of that aging?”

Frankie Wood-Black, science professor, Northern Oklahoma College, advocates doing lots of research before getting a tattoo.  “Do your homework, talk to your tattoo artists, look at the practices ahead of time, look at how they’ve done tattoos,” said Wood-Black, “Talk to people who’ve had tattoos in their shop. Don’t just go off and get a tattoo because it’s the crazy thing to do that night. Do your homework.”

Bryan Proctor is a student at Quinnipiac University, studying journalism and history. This is a shorter version of a story he wrote for Professor Richard Hanley’s investigative reporting class.  In his free time, Bryan writes music, plays guitar and enjoys golfing.