In 2012, 12-year-old Ryan Gibbons suffered a severe asthma attack during recess at his Ontario school.
His life-saving inhaler wasn’t with him – it had been confiscated and locked away in the principal’s office.
When the attack struck, his friends tried to carry him to the office to retrieve his inhaler.
But Ryan collapsed before they could reach it.
What makes this tragedy even more heartbreaking? Ryan’s mother had repeatedly sent inhalers to school, but staff consistently took them away, following a policy that all medication must be controlled by school personnel.
One school rule cost a child his life.
Through unimaginable grief, Ryan’s mother, Sandra Gibbons, channeled her pain into purpose. She fought for “Ryan’s Law” to ensure no other parent would lose their child because life-saving medication was out of reach.
Gibbons said her son was an energetic boy who loved motorbikes and hiking with her in the woods.
“There’s so much I can say about him and it’s just really hard because it’s just — you miss him,” she said through tears.
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Source: cbc.ca; Project Nightfall/FB