Teen's devastating last six words to mum before he collapsed at friend's house and never woke up

Luke Anning was having a quiet night in at a friend's house when he started to feel unwell, despite having taken his inhaler he collapsed from an asthma attack and never woke up

A teenager who went to have a chilled night at a friend's after a busy festive period celebrating gave his mum what was meant to be a reassuring final six words before collapsing and never waking up.

19-year-old Luke Anning had spent the week partying with family and friends in Christmas 2018 and decided to have a quieter night hanging out at one of his friend's houses. But his mum, Sam Phillips, had no idea that his quick return home to grab his inhaler would be the last time she ever spoke to him.

Luke had always suffered from asthma, but in his teenage years, it was well under control, for the most part. One of his main triggers was cat and dog allergies, so when he felt his chest getting a bit tight he popped back to his mum's house to grab his inhaler.

"I'm fine - don't worry about me," he reassured his mum. But just a few hours later, Sam received a call from Luke's friend, saying they had dialled 999 after he collapsed from an asthma attack. He had suffered a cardiac arrest.

Luke was rushed to the hospital, but medics struggled to get air into his lungs. His brain had been deprived of oxygen for 16 minutes, and tragically, he was declared brain dead. He passed away on January 4, 2019.

"We never knew that Christmas would be our last with him," Sam, 48, said. “We decided to donate Luke’s kidneys, pancreas, and liver. Amazingly donating his liver saved a woman’s life – she had three children. It brings me comfort to know that a part of Luke still lives on and continues to make a difference just like he always did."

Now, the mum from Newport, is sharing his story to raise awareness about the dangers of asthma, describing it as a "silent killer." Reflecting on that night, Sam recalled how she had gone to bed, only to be woken by her mother, who had received a call from Luke's friend. Moments later, Sam got the same call and rushed to the house where Luke was staying.

When she arrived, three ambulances were on the scene, and paramedics were working on him. She rode in the ambulance with Luke as he was rushed to the Royal Gwent Hospital.

"It was devastating to see. They were in the back [of the ambulance] working on him and they had to pull over at one point – that was scary as well. I can't even explain how I felt at that time when they pulled over and I thought that was the end of it. At the time you are holding onto any sort of hope you can."

Sadly when Luke got to hospital doctors found it difficult to restore his airway and Sam was told his chest was "like a rock". He was put onto life support but whenever he was weaned off sedation he would have a seizure. It became clear he was brain dead and a CT scan confirmed this.

Luke was born at 31 weeks gestation and weighed just 1lb and 11oz. Sam described him as a miracle for surviving his first year of life and told how he went on to live a wonderful and full life. When he was a child, he was hospitalised twice with chest problems and diagnosed with asthma soon after. However it improved over time and, despite developing allergies as a teen, the family didn't ever consider that asthma was a real danger to him.

Talking about her son Sam said: "He would have been the best drag queen in Cardiff. He loved his hair and make-up. He was such a joker – he had so many catch phrases. He should have been famous. He had so many friends and they still get in touch with me now. There's a couple of girls that have bought me crystals with his face on it and I've got his face on the cover of the spare tyre on the back of my Jeep. So he drives around Newport with me.

"When he was in intensive care he had done his fake tan for over Christmas and it was coming off when he was in the hospital and the girls who come to visit him said he'd be so devastated he looked like that. So many of them came to say goodbye – it was lovely."

Luke's siblings Molly and Jaiden were just 16 and 10 at the time and were devastated by the loss of their brother. Sam said: "It was like I postponed my grief to support them through theirs. It was so hard for them. You are never going to get over the loss of a child and the fact that he had so much life in front of him, but I am grateful for the life that he already lived."