Glasgow bomb hero John Smeaton in intensive care

GLASGOW Airport car bomb hero John Smeaton was fighting for his life last night.

He was taken ill hours after the first full day of the trial of two men accused of the attack.

Sources said 32-year-old Smeaton was rushed from his home in Paisley, Renfrewshire, to hospital after a serious asthma attack on Thursday night.

The former baggage handler has regularly written about his poor health in a tabloid newspaper column.

A spokesman for NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde confirmed: "I can confirm that he is in the Royal Alexandra Hospital and that his condition is stable."

Sources said that a similar asthma attack a decade ago almost killed him.

Smeaton, who recently revealed he was quitting Scotland for a new life in the United States, became an overnight celebrity after the airport incident on June 30 last year.

His efforts to foil the attack followed by comments in a TV interview broadcast across the globe shortly afterwards catapulted him to fame.

Describing his feelings after his involvement in the incident, he said: "This is Glasgow, you know – we'll set about you."

Now known by his nickname of Smeato, he has been feted from London to New York, mingling with top politicians and celebrities at glitzy parties.

He has met Gordon Brown several times, and was publicly congratulated by the Prime Minister at the Labour Party conference in Bournemouth last year.

Last December, he travelled to New York to receive an Everyday Superhero award from TV news channel CNN. He has also been given the Queen's Gallantry Medal, one of the highest civilian honours for bravery.

In June, it emerged he was to leave Scotland for the United States. Smeaton left his job at a Glasgow security firm and said he was moving in with his American girlfriend, Christy MacPhedran.

Following his involvement in the airport incident, he found himself cast as a folk hero, with a tribute website set up in his honour, for people to pledge to buy him pints of beer.

More than 1,000 were donated within two days.

Millions afflicted by condition that can be a killer

ABOUT 5.2 million people – including 1.1 million children – suffer from asthma in the UK, the equivalent of an asthma sufferer in one in every five households.

An attack normally occurs when someone with asthma comes into contact with something that irritates their airways, causing the muscles around the walls of the air passages to tighten and narrow.

The lining of the airways then begins to swell, making it difficult to breathe, causing wheezing, coughing and tightness in the chest.

These episodes may be triggered by exposure to an environmental stimulant such as an allergen, tobacco smoke, cold or warm air, perfume, pet hair, or moist air. Exercise, exertion or emotional stress can also be factors.

A "reliever inhaler" – usually coloured blue – contains a drug which acts to relax the muscles in the airways.

This makes them open wider, and the symptoms then usually ease quickly. However, in severe attacks, where shortness of breath does not abate, hospital treatment is vital.

In the most severe instances, asthma can kill.

There are also "prevent inhalers" which control the swelling and inflammation in the airways, stopping them from being so sensitive and reducing the risk of severe attacks.

They are prescribed to people who suffer persistent attacks or suffer sleep disturbance due to asthma. However, the protective effect builds up over a period of time so they need to be taken every day.

Preventers are usually brown, red or orange inhalers.

Though often seen as a childhood condition that many people grow out of, asthma can affect people at any time of life.

Onset of adult asthma can be triggered by a variety of causes, including flu and colds, exercise, laughing, perfumes and even anxiety.