St. Louis Rams Defensive Tackle, Gary Gibson has battled with asthma for as long as he can remember.  Growing up in Lafayette, New York, he stated that when he was younger he would always get really bad chest colds; and remembers when in high school, he could only go up half a stair case before having to sit down.

It got so bad that Gibson described falling out from asthma attacks occasionally during his college career at Rutgers, but yet and still he was determined to not let it stop him.  He said, “Being a professional athlete affects my playing sometime to the point where I may get tired easier and I have to sit down, but it’s just something that I know I have to fight through.” By learning how to better control his asthma Gibson says he takes his medication as directed by doctors; he uses his inhaler at least 30 minutes before working out and sometimes during; and now finishing up his first year with the St. Louis Rams, he can proudly say that he hasn’t had an asthma attack while in his professional career.  Previously Gibson played for Carolina in 2007-08, and was first signed as an undrafted rookie free agent by Baltimore in 2005.

Gibson advises youth with asthma to, “Just never let it stop you…..be sure to take your medication as directed, but also know that there are plenty of other people with asthma that are doing just fine, so it doesn’t make you any different!