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After hours of struggling to breathe and questioning whether or not he would survive, Tower Hill, St Andrew resident Osbourne Henry is grateful to be alive and home with his family again.

During a period of heavy rainfall on Friday, November 17, the 42-year-old was at home when he began experiencing a severe asthma attack about 9 p.m. He struggled to breathe for about nine hours until he was able to be transported to hospital for treatment.

Henry was airlifted to The University Hospital of the West Indies by the Jamaica Defence Force (JDF) as landslides caused by the heavy rainfall made the roads to the hilly community impassable. Henry told THE STAR that during those nine hours, his thoughts were on everything at once.

"That day, a lot was going through my mind. I didn't know if I was going to make it, I was worried about my kids dem a lot and if them a guh alright," said the father of two. Henry, who was in the hospital for one week, returned home on Saturday, November 25, and was greeted by his community members with a celebration. He told THE STAR that without them, he does not believe he would have survived.

"Mi really thankful fi dem. Dem really help mi in trying to get to the hospital from like 9 o'clock. Mi all have a cousin that did have a little pump machine and she was trying to help, and a lot of people come out and they start to pray and they really rally around mi for the whole night," he said. Henry also expressed gratitude to the JDF who responded when the two of his relatives reached out by telephone. Henry thanked the soldiers for helping to save his life.

"Mi grateful, really grateful," he said, adding that although he was semiconscious while travelling in the helicopter, the treatment he received from the soldiers was positive.

Despite not being affected by asthma during his younger years, the construction worker said that he started having difficulty breathing in his early 20s. He said that prior to this asthma attack, he had another life-threatening one in 2016 and is currently not fully recovered from his latest one.

"Normally as how I use to move, I can't move that fast as one time. If I try to move fast I will have shortness of breath," Henry said. He added that he is fearful of having another asthma attack at home, as it could be difficult for help to get to him.

"I'm concerned, because if we have bad weather the road is easily blocked," Henry said, adding that he is considering moving to a less landslide-prone area.