D-C Brown didn’t start out as a consumer advocate. A severe asthmatic, D-C was too busy struggling with her own health. Since her teen years, she had raced to the emergency room a dozen times because of asthma attacks. She’d tried asthma medications. She’d even started college - twice -- and then a career, only to quit when her lungs shut down. One doctor predicted she would die by 35.

But in 1993, D-C’s life took a turn. She attended an asthma workshop at National Jewish Medical and Research Center in Denver. There, she listened to a week of lectures, scrawling asthma facts into a huge notebook. By the time she got home to Seaford, Delaware, D-C knew she could control her asthma better. And she has.

"When I learned more about asthma, I figured out how to pace myself," says D-C, age 42. "My lung function stabilized, and it’s been going up for the last year or two. I also got my first peak flow meter. And I learned new ways to change my environment."

As soon as she got home, D-C began using her new asthma know-how. She bought a mattress cover to avoid dust mites in the bedroom. She asked her landlord about ripping out carpet covering her cement floors. She reviewed her diet, discovering allergy-causing substances like yellow food dye. And she became a volunteer--first at a local hospital and then with the Fairfax, Va.-based Mothers of Asthmatics (MOA).

"I’ve always had a helpful nature," D-C says, laughing. Even more, she adds, battling severe asthma has given her the strength and faith to help others. Every week, D-C gets calls from asthmatics who hear about her through MOA, the American Lung Association, or other asthma groups. She offers them tips and resource lists -- not to mention old-fashioned empathy.