After years of sleepless nights and hospital visits watching her young son battle through severe asthma, Perth mum Samantha Laine will be walking a whopping 130km to fundraise for the charity that changed everything.
Coinciding with National Asthma Week, the Willetton local and her best friend Nicolle will take on the Wheezin for a Reason Hub to Hub challenge to raise awareness and funds for Respiratory Care WA. RCWA is a not-for-profit service offering free support, education and diagnosis for people living with respiratory conditions.
The two women will set off from the Australind RCWA hub early on September 1, walking 130km over two days to the West Perth hub.
All money raised will go towards the community-based respiratory service that Ms Laine said made a world of difference for her family, especially her ten-year-old son Patrick who had struggled to breathe since he was just 18-months-old.
“Raising money is great and it’s amazing for the organisation, but for me, it’s about raising awareness so that if one person hears about Respiratory Care WA that didn’t hear about them before, who was in the same boat I was in all those years ago, it will all be worthwhile,” she said.
“It would’ve made life so much different if I’d known about them earlier.”
Until he turned six, Patrick was in and out of emergency departments with serious asthma flare ups that left him requiring oxygen and Ventolin protocol.
Ms Laine said she stumbled across what was then known as Asthma WA in 2021, and staff were able to diagnose Patrick properly and prescribe preventative Ventolin and Seretide medication that changed his life.
“Once we were seen by them and Patrick got diagnosed with asthma, and put on a preventative asthma plan, we’d gone from six or seven times in a year going to hospital down to not having any hospital visits for respiratory conditions since he’s been diagnosed,” she said.
Camera IconPatrick is now an avid basketballer, able to live a normal childhood because of support from RCWA. Credit: Ian Munro/The West Australian
Now an avid basketballer and sports fanatic, Patrick is able to live a fairly normal childhood without the exhaustion and fear of being unable to breathe.
“We’ve gone from a very chilled, laid back kid who always used to miss out on sports to now, all he wants to do is play basketball. If I don’t hear basketball bounces, I’m worried there’s something wrong with him,” Ms Laine said.
“He’s a very active kid and participates a lot more, plays with his friends. Before he had this diagnosis he was spending all these hours in hospital, and you become a bit reserved, you don’t want to put yourself out there too much.
“He just didn’t have the energy to be doing any of these activities, and for us now to watch him as he is constantly active and participates in all his school sports carnivals, it has made such a world of difference for our entire family.”
More than 237,000 West Australians live with asthma, including many children who require extra support. Nationally, asthma accounted for more than 60,000 emergency department presentations in 2024-25.
The inspiration behind the inaugural Wheezin for a Reason challenge came out of gratitude for RCWA and a desire to show Patrick the importance of giving back.
“I’m a firm believer in giving back where you can. They’ve made such a difference to us, so I definitely want to spread awareness of their organisation as well as raising some funds to help people,” Ms Laine said.
“Patrick’s very happy, he understands the support that Respiratory Care WA has given him and he loves that mum is doing something that pushes her out of the limits a little bit.”
Camera IconSamantha Laine and 10-year-old son Patrick together at Burrendah Park. Samantha is walking 130km in September to raise money for Respiratory Care WA, as Patrick suffered from severe asthma. Ian Munro Credit: Ian Munro/The West Australian
She and Nicolle will leave Australind at 6am on the first day of National Asthma Week, walking for about 40 hours to arrive in West Perth at 4pm two days later for finish-line celebrations.
They plan to stop about every 30km for a break, and will be joined by a group for the night part of the walk.
“There’s definitely excitement, also a bit of nerves. As much as you try to prepare yourself for something like this, it will just be a case of willpower, pushing us through and adrenaline kicking in to get us across the line,” Ms Laine said.
“I think that’s the advantage of having my best friend with me, we’ll be able to motivate and support one another as we go. I’m very lucky.”
Tax-deductible donations can be made to the campaign online. There is also a raffle with $4900 worth of prizes to be drawn on September 1 when they kick off the walk.