Kicking the habit

A middle-aged man ends up in A&E, barely able to breathe. A woman of 75 is told she is on track to lose a leg. And a 62-year-old gives up her 40-a-day habit - all for the love of her grandson. On No Smoking Day, each tells the story of how they fought a lifetime's addiction to nicotine - and won. ONE Tuesday evening 11 months ago, 57-year-old workshop administrator Colin Le Goupillot finished work at Silverline Garage as usual. By the time he arrived home his breathing was so bad that he could barely make it from his car to the front door. His wife, Sandra, rushed him to Accident and Emergency at the PEH.

'It frightened the life out of me,' said Colin. 'It was like a scene from Casualty. My wife was told to go home and await a phone call. She didn't expect to see me alive again.'

Colin was hospitalised for four days and off work for several weeks. But his immune system was so weak that subsequent infections occurred and he ended up in hospital again.

His GP set him on a course of steroids and prescribed an inhaler, which he had to use three times a day.

Colin was only too well aware that smoking was at the root of his problems. 'Everyone had told me to give up,' he said. 'But I'd heard it all before.'

He had tried. After trying nicotine patches and gum, he and his wife had bought lozenges from a chemist and told themselves that they would cut down on cigarettes drastically for one week and then start using them.

Ironically, the week they began on the lozenges was the one when Colin ended up in hospital.

'It knocked me for six,' he said. 'That was the last cigarette I had.'

But there were other factors. Colin was two-and-a-half stone overweight so, with the help of his wife and doctor, he changed his diet.

Old habits die hard and Colin admits that when he's watching TV or drinking coffee, he sometimes reaches for his cigarettes.

'The craving has gone but the habit is still there,' he said. And so, too, are the cigarettes. 'We've still got some packets left over from last year. There's no way we'd smoke them but if we throw them away we believe that we'd crave them more.'

Colin is glad that he gave up and wishes he'd done it years ago.

'My lungs are now back to average capacity. I'm lucky I'm still alive.'

Barbara Le Bourg, grandmother of 11 and great-grandmother of five, has a brand new pride and joy to add to the tally: a JVC widescreen TV.

It takes centre stage at her St Sampson's cottage - and Barbara has her new non-smoking habit to thank for it.

The 75-year-old, a smoker for 51 years, hasn't had a single cigarette since giving up just over a year ago. Appropriately, her birthday is today, No Smoking Day.

But as delighted as she is with her sleek new TV, smoking was a tough habit to break.

'I'd tried giving up many times,' she said. 'I even went to Quitline twice. I thought I smoked only 20 a day. It turned out it was nearer 40.'

Barbara took up the habit in her 20s and had always enjoyed it, but three powerful incentives prompted her to quit. The first was a problem with walking.

While on her way to see her doctor one day, she had to stop 'at least 12 times' because her leg hurt so much.

Her GP had a stark warning for her. 'If you don't stop smoking,' said Dr Peter Richards, 'you'll lose your leg'.

Then there were her beloved budgies, Tom and Jerry - both passive smokers whether they liked it or not. Barbara was concerned about their health.

But the lure of that TV was also powerful. Dyed-in-the-wool soap fan Barbara visited her daughter, Rose, on Christmas Day 2004 and was immediately drawn to her widescreen. 'I thought, ?I want one of those?,' she said.

Quitting her 40-a-day habit would free up enough money to buy one - eventually. But there were other, more important dividends.

Within three-to-four weeks of giving up she could walk without her leg hurting. Today, Tom and Jerry are happily chirping away in their cage. And it took her only a year of saving the cash she used to spend on cigarettes to buy her coveted widescreen TV.

She also has enough left over to treat herself to a meal at a favourite restaurant every Saturday, when she catches up with her son, Andrew, and her grandchildren. 'They're pleased I gave up as they're members of Smokebusters.'

By anyone's standards, breaking the habit after half a century was a tall order. But Barbara believes that she couldn't have done it without Quitline. 'They took me through the highs and lows. They all deserve a medal.'

And her family has also noticed a big difference.

'Her skin and eyes changed and she's got her pink complexion back,' said daughter Rose Ogier, 50. 'Before, she was grey. She's really changed.'

Barbara's parting piece of advice was simple and to the point. 'Don't start smoking,' she said.

Avril Edgar, 62, hasn't smoked a cigarette for eight weeks. At the beginning of January she gave up a 40-a-day habit with which she had lived for 35 years - and all for her grandson, Elliott.

The daughter of a tobacconist, Avril started smoking in her early 20s.

'In those days it wasn't such a big thing - no one talked about cancer. People didn't realise.

'My mum, dad and sister all smoked, it wasn't a no-no,' she said.

Married at 18, Avril had three children: Mandy, Denise and Mark.

But nearly two years ago, when Denise's son was born, everything changed. The youngest of her six grandchildren, Elliott, was born six weeks prematurely in Southampton Hospital when Denise suffered complications.

'He was born fine but got an infection and one of his lungs collapsed. That was the trigger,' said Avril.

She began cutting down, but it was when she gave up her job as a florist 18 months ago that things began to change. Denise went back to work and Avril started looking after Elliott full-time.

'There was never any smoking in the house when he was there. I had to change my habits. Instead of lighting up after a meal, I'd get up and do something,' she said. 'I was buying 40 a day but not smoking that many.'

But on New Year's Eve she really made up her mind.

'I saw a Quitline advert in the paper and went to see them.

'They were ever so sweet - I really don't think I could have done it without them,' she said.

A matter of weeks later, Avril's general health has improved. Her sinuses are clearer and her sense of smell and taste better.

'When I used to laugh, if I laughed too hard I coughed at the end. That doesn't happen at all any more.

'I think I just fell out of love with cigarettes. I'll never smoke again. I can't say it's easy - you have to have the determination,' she said.

'Truthfully, it's taken 18 months, but I am a non-smoker now. If I get stressed, I sit down and take a few deep breaths. When I used to panic, I'd reach straight for the cigarettes but I can't do that any more. They were my lifeline and I have to find that somewhere else now.'