While suffering a severe asthma attack, Shara Swink thought she might not see her 7-year-old daughter again — until she heard the voice of an OnStar Advisor
An asthma attack has a number of common triggers according to the Mayo Clinic: particulates in the air, an upper respiratory infection, stress and many more. But sometimes, they occur “with no apparent cause.”
For OnStar Member Shara Swink, “no apparent cause” happened while she was driving her 2016 Buick Verano across the Arkansas River bridge on her way to work in Little Rock. Though Swink suffers from chronic asthma and was familiar with the signs of an impending attack, this was something different — and much worse.
“I had my inhaler and everything with me,” says Swink. “But nothing was working. I couldn’t breathe. It felt like my lungs were going to pop.”
Swink pulled to the side of the road and pushed the red Emergency button,
“I felt like I was losing oxygen, but that Advisor was there with me the entire time,” says Swink. “She kept asking me to say something and to come back to her, until the ambulance was able to get to me.”
While first responders were able to provide Swink with oxygen on the scene, the attack was serious enough that she had to be hospitalized for two days. It was the first time that Swink had suffered a major asthma attack while driving, and while she has since recovered and returned to her job working for the state of Arkansas, Swink was understandably nervous about suffering a similar attack in the future — especially considering that she is the mother of a 7-year-old girl. She credits OnStar with giving her the confidence to feel safe on the road again, whether she’s driving alone or with her daughter.
Member Shara Swink credits OnStar with giving her the confidence to feel safe on the road again.
“Using OnStar was faster than my phone, and it’s comforting to know that you’re not by yourself,” says Swink. “You hear someone talking to you, telling you that they’re there for you and to hold tight because someone is going to be there to help.”
Find out more about OnStar Emergency Services and the peace of mind that OnStar’s specially trained Emergency Medical Dispatch Advisors can provide for you.
