CLEVELAND — The wildfires in Canada are impacting the air quality in the Northeast and Midwest. Air quality alerts have been issued for many states including Ohio. For one Cleveland resident, Nicole DeAnna, the air quality has impacted her daily life.

The 26-year-old runner has fears of how this poor air quality has been impacting her. 

“It does scare me; it definitely affects everything I want to do with my life anytime I want to be outside kind of more than the average person,” she said.

Her fear has stemmed from the emergency surgery she received in 2015 where doctors removed 60% of her left lung.

“They had basically found that my lung had inflated as the normal lung does, but no air was escaping out of it. So it was basically just filling, filling, filling and I needed pretty much emergency surgery,” she said.

DeAnna has recovered and even ran the Cleveland Marathon in the spring, but that hasn’t stopped her from struggling in these conditions.

“My breathing is much more labored, I have to take several deeper breaths to feel like I’m filling my lungs, so I’m very mindful of it,” she said.

She explained that over the last few days she has taken steps to prepare herself for stepping outside.

“I do have an inhaler. It’s not necessarily a rescue inhaler it’s more of an as needed inhaler. So the last few mornings, just each morning, I’ve taken it preventatively kind of knowing yeah I am going to be outside whether it’s running or walking my dog or just out shopping kind of doing whatever,” she said. 

The National Weather Service has also encouraged people to reduce the use of gas, whether it’s driving your car less often or waiting a few days to mow your lawn, so that the air can stay as clean as possible.