Sue supports a smokefree generation
WARNING- GRAPHIC IMAGES
Mum of three Sue Mountain, 58, from South Shields, started smoking aged 11. She underwent laser treatment aged 48 after a biopsy revealed she had laryngeal cancer in 2012. The cancer then returned in 2015 and then again in 2017 but she is now cancer free. She today writes about her ambition to see a smokefree generation.
“When I first saw the news that the UK was planning to stop smoking for the next generation by making sure no one aged 14 or under now is ever legally allowed to be sold tobacco, I thought it was amazing news.
“As someone who’s had smoking-related cancer three times and began smoking at primary school, I knew that something like this would have prevented that for me.
“My whole family smoked, and I saw nothing wrong with it. My dad got chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) – which means he couldn’t walk on his own and needed a breathing apparatus – so I knew I needed to stop but I just couldn’t. He was a businessman and to see such a strong man deteriorate like that, it was horrendous.
“I started as a way to fit in. It was the thing to do back then in the 70s and when I joined senior school, you were the odd one out if you didn’t smoke. At the age of 11, you never think you’re going to end up addicted, or how smoking is going to damage your life.
When I was happy. I smoked. When I was stressed, I smoked. You lie to yourself and say you love smoking, but you need the cigarette – that’s the addiction. People who talk about freedom of choice….often they don’t really understand what a real tobacco addiction is like.
“Around 2010, I noticed I always had a dry throat and that my voice disappeared in the summer. Initially, I put it down to the change in weather but it continued to happen and in 2012 my partner at the time told me to get it investigated. I honestly didn’t think it was anything serious, so when I got diagnosed with early-stage laryngeal cancer I was devastated.
“My daughters thought they were going to lose their mam. To see your daughters go through hell because of something that you’ve done was so hard. I think I have probably spent over £100,000 on cigarettes… I could have bought half a house with that or seen the world instead of getting cancer.
“My voice has never been the same since radiotherapy. But I’m fortunate, I am alive and feeling fit and I never think of going back to a cigarette. Smoking did its best to take my health and my life. Now I have taken my life back.
“Nobody who starts smoking young ever thinks they’ll smoke for life. This might not prevent everyone starting to smoke, but it will stop a lot of people and save them from dying needlessly early.
“The one thing that still gets me upset is what my kids have had to go through. My hope is that my grandchildren won’t know cigarettes as part of their life.
“The main thing is that Parliament is saying enough is enough and now our MPs need to make this happen. This is all about a better life for our children and grandchildren – free of waking up needing a cigarette, free of the costs and free of the health risks.”
