Families share life changing stories in Smoking Survivors campaign
The devastating harm inflicted by smoking on people in the North East and the grief facing families left behind take the spotlight in an acclaimed quitting campaign from Fresh.
Fresh’s Smoking Survivors campaign is a powerful call to people in the North East who smoke to put smoking behind them and make a fresh quit for their health, family and also their finances. Previous phases featuring Sue Mountain and Cathy Hunt helped to motivate thousands of people to quit smoking or switch over totally to a less harmful vape as part of their journey to quit.
It launches in the run-up to Stoptober and discussions nationally around creating a Smokefree Future. People making a fresh quit attempt can visit the regional quitting hub FreshQuit.co.uk for tips, advice, and free local help to stop smoking.
Two new TV adverts running across our region from September 16 feature emotional appeals from people whose lives have been damaged forever by tobacco. In their own words and striking medical footage, they speak of the devastating impact on their health, finances and their families.
Debbie and Sadie Thomas from Hartlepool in 2021 lost their beloved husband and dad Denham from COPD – an incurable disease which destroys the lungs and is nearly always caused by smoking. Former smoker Denham was housebound and reliant on oxygen from his mid-50s while they watched him struggle to breathe. In the years before he died, Denham encouraged everyone he could to quit smoking and when alive backed Fresh’s “Every Breath” campaign supported by the British Lung Foundation (now Asthma + Lung UK).
Former smoker Tony Osborne from Middlesbrough was diagnosed with laryngeal (throat) cancer when he was 52. Tony had to undergo major surgery to remove much of the inside of his neck, including his voice box. Tony breathes through an opening in his neck, known as a stoma, and talks using an artificial voice box.
Fresh is running the campaign as part of a commitment by all 12 local authorities in the region and the North East and North Cumbria Integrated Care Board to reduce smoking – one of the region’s leading causes of health inequalities, the biggest cause of cancer and the single largest cause of preventable deaths. The North East has a unique declaration for a smokefree future with a clear vision: “A smokefree future, free of the death and disease from tobacco, is needed, wanted and workable. This would improve the health and wealth of our region’s most disadvantaged communities more than any other measure”.
Ailsa Rutter OBE, Director of Fresh and Balance, said: “Tobacco is devastating in the scale of harm and death it inflicts on people who smoke. It also affects the families left behind. Too many people in our local communities have experienced the pain, the worry and the loss from diseases caused by smoking.
“We applaud these inspiring local people who are sharing their stories because they don’t want other people to suffer like they did. These stories also show why we need further national action to reduce the harm of smoking.
“Never give up on quitting smoking. Every time you try to stop smoking you learn something, even if you don’t succeed first or second time. Next time it can be different.”
Amanda Healy is chair of the Association of Directors of Public Health North East and Director of Public Health for County Durham. She said: “Partners across the North East have been working tirelessly to reduce smoking rates and it’s been so good to see our overall rate has more than halved over the last 20 years. Campaigns like this which raise awareness of the harm of smoking and the benefits of quitting reach across generations and encourage people to stop and stay stopped, or not to smoke in the first place.
“The North East is working together to reduce the burden of smoking-related illnesses and improve the chances of all our residents. We also need action nationally to help us to achieve our shared vision of a Smokefree Future.”
Dr Neil O’Brien, Chief medical officer for the North East and North Cumbria Integrated Care Board, said: “Smoking is one of the biggest causes of ill health and early death in our region which is why we have set a goal to reduce rates of smoking to 5% or below by 2030. Ultimately, we want to see an end to the death and disease from tobacco smoking across our region.
“As a GP I see first-hand the devastating effects smoking has on the health of my patients and the impact it also has on their loved ones too. I would like to say thank you to all those who are sharing their own personal stories which I hope will inspire many others to quit smoking. It’s never too late to quit and there’s lots of support out there to help you or a loved one take your first steps on that journey.”
Hazel Cheeseman, Deputy Chief Executive, Action on Smoking and Health, said: “Every day across the North East families are devastated by the lethal impact of smoking. It robs children of their parents and leaves partners alone and friends bereft. This campaign brings home what smoking has done and continues to do to our communities and I hope it inspires people to make a quit attempt. Campaigns like this are crucial to encourage people to give quitting a go and keep going, reach large numbers of people, and demonstrate the vision shared by individuals, families and communities for a future free of cancer, COPD, and other tobacco harms.”
Smoking harms nearly every organ of the body including the heart, blood vessels, lungs, eyes, mouth, reproductive organs, bones, bladder, and digestive organs, and causes heart disease, diabetes, COPD, dementia, stroke and 16 types of cancer. Smoking remains the biggest cause of death in the North East with evidence suggesting it causes a third (33%) of all cancer deaths in the region [1].
COPD is an incurable disease where the lungs are severely damaged over time, and most cases are from smoking. Over 80,000 people in the North East are living with diagnosed COPD [2], but there could be as many as two million people in the UK with undiagnosed COPD.
Denham’s story
Former pub landlord and nightclub doorman Denham Thomas, who lived in Hartlepool, died in October 2021 – more than a decade after smoking robbed him of his health and his mobility. While ill, he supported the Fresh Every Breath campaign in the North East in 2012 supported by the British Lung Foundation.
By the age of 35, Denham was first diagnosed with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) – a disease that destroys the lungs and is caused by smoking. It confined him to a wheelchair from his mid-fifties, requiring full-time family care and oxygen.
Denham’s widow, Debbie, 59, went from being his wife to his carer. She and her daughter Sadie, 25, have spoken of the agony of seeing Denham struggling for breath, missing out on things like seeing his daughter graduate and meeting his new baby granddaughter Soul.
Debbie said: “Smoking changed Denham’s life changed completely, and it changed all our lives. It is so terribly sad thinking of all the things he missed out on.
“I first met Denham when he’d just been diagnosed with COPD. At the time, he was still a physically active man and was able to go to work as normal. He’d just have to do things that little bit slower as he would get out of breath really quickly. That was the first sign.
“His health deteriorated and it was heart-breaking to watch him get worse over the years. He would have panic attacks.
“Nothing can prepare you for how frightening it is to see someone close to you struggling to breathe. It was such an awful experience because whilst he was gasping for every breath and his lips going blue, all I could do was watch because if I tried to help it would only make the situation worse. He would tell everyone he could stop smoking and tell them: “You don’t want to end up in a wheelchair and on oxygen like me.”
“I would not have wanted anyone else to take care of him, but I became his carer rather than his partner, from helping him to put on his clothes; making his meals; washing his hair, and driving him around.
“We stopped being able to go out as a couple anymore and had to plan everything around making sure his oxygen cylinder was full even before stepping out the front door.
“When I looked at him sitting in his wheelchair struggling to breathe, it was hard to believe he was once a strong young man who loved his sports. He got depressed and I could see in his eyes how angry he was at what smoking did to him.
“As a family, I think we always tried to prepare for him to go not knowing how long he had, but when it happened it did not make it any easier.
Sadie, now 25, was a Champion of Great Britain boxing in 2017 after years of dedication through her teenage years when she wished her dad was fit enough to train with her. Now she has talked about her dad missing out on precious moments in life such as graduating as an engineer and becoming a mum.
Sadie, who now coaches boxing for local youngsters, said: “Even as a child I knew things were different because of my dad’s health, and it just got worse over the years. Like whether it was too far for him to walk to the toilet. When I boxed I just wished he could train with me.
“Before I was born, my dad was a keep fit instructor. But I don’t actually remember him being fit and well. I only ever remember him being on oxygen in a wheelchair 16 hours a day. He needed it to live. There was a trail of tubes up the stairs.
“He said he always felt bad because he wanted to do sports with me but he couldn’t. We couldn’t do much as a family. He would have loved to do so many things but couldn’t, even walking down the street with me. He missed so much. He never even got to meet my daughter and his granddaughter Soul. He would have loved her.”
The Smoking Survivors campaign has ran across the North East and North Cumbria since June 2023. A survey of 770 smokers [3] after the first phase found:
- 73% had seen or heard the campaign
- 91% found it easy to understand
- 71% said the ads made them wish they didn’t smoke
- 66% were more concerned about smoking
- 61% were more motivated by the benefits of quitting
- 76% said it was more relevant/ / impactful having real and local people featured
- 26% of smokers who saw or heard “Smoking Survivors” cut down, 9% said they tried to quit and 7% switched to vaping.
References
[1] https://www.adph.org.uk/networks/northeast/programmes/tobacco/
[2] Department of Health and Social Care. Fingertips Public health profiles https://fingertips.phe.org.uk/search/COPD#page/4/gid/1/pat/15/ati/6/are/E12000001/iid/253/age/1/sex/4/cat/-1/ctp/-1/yrr/1/cid/4/tbm/1
[3] Independent survey of 757 smokers North East and North Cumbria