Anna Reisman: “I suddenly realized how quiet it was. Her shoulders and chest were heaving, but she wasn’t breathing. She was trembling, the tears streaming down her cheeks, and she couldn’t take a breath to use the inhaler. I sat still, trying to look calm, my mind racing. Should I thump her back? Call for help? Start CPR? After an interminable moment she sucked in a couple of wheezy puffs . . .
. . . Then it struck me. Regular breathing was hard enough with her emphysema; crying — with its deep irregular inhalations — crippled her ability to draw in air.”
