Richard (57) started smoking when he was 15 years old. Before he became smokefree, he was a heavy smoker and would smoke between 25 – 30 cigarettes per day. Sometimes he would smoke up to 40 cigarettes in a day when out at the weekend.
Suddenly, when out enjoying a Christmas party, he received a transformational phone call from the Targeted Lung Health team who passed his phone number onto us with his consent. Like an epiphany, this phone call went on to change his life forever.
Shortly after, one of our expert NHS Health Improvement Practitioners, Tracey, gave him a call. Richard said: “I’m not very good at doing things that I don’t want to do and it really helped that Tracey was straight forward and direct. She asked me directly what day I wanted to quit, there was no confusion and I understood clearly that I needed to settle on a day to quit. There’s no way I would have quit if it was my wife or friends asking me.
I wasn’t quite ready to quit that very week, so we set a date for the following week on the Friday. When that day came, I had my last cigarette, Tracey called me at 4:30pm on the dot and that was it. I haven’t had a cigarette since.”
After Tracey talked through all the nicotine replacement products that are available, he decided to quit smoking by switching to vaping. Tracey arranged for Richard to be sent a free vaping kit with 5 weeks supply of vaping fluid.
“Tracey made sure I received my vaping kit in time for my quit date. I got on really well with the vape, it works the same way as a cigarette and does the same job. This is really important for historical, heavy smokers like me. Compared to smoking, vaping is so much cheaper. I was spending £125 on cigarettes per week!”
Tracey’s follow-up phone calls offered support and kept him motivated, Richard said: “Tracey was my motivation. Just being able to talk to someone about what I was going through and to receive praise for my achievements was really important to me.”
Richard enjoys cycling. He cycles to work and regularly explores cycle routes. As quitting smoking significantly enhances overall lung function, he has noticed significant improvements to his cycling performance. Richard said: “I can cycle further without stopping or getting breathless. My breathing is so much better, I can really tell the difference. I can go for longer without getting breathless. I feel alive!”
In a final, powerful statement, Richard highlighted how being smoke free will not only benefit his own health but will benefit his family too. He expressed with conviction his strong desire to be fully present and healthy for his grandchildren and be part of their lives for as long as possible.