To tie in with this year’s theme for No Smoking Day – ‘Proud to be a Quitter’ which aims to draw on inspirational stories of ex-smokers to highlight the life-changing benefits of quitting – the Public Health Directorate’s Quit4You team ran a competition for quitters.
Island residents who had quit smoking and were ‘proud to be a quitter’ were asked to submit their inspirational story.
Two winners were chosen and recently received their certificates from the Quit4You team. Sandra Smith was awarded first prize of ?50 in vouchers, with Mary Hatcher receiving second prize, ?20 in vouchers.
Sandra Smith, who won first prize, said: “I’m a happily married 55 year old mum-of-three. I had been quite a heavy smoker for some years. I tried giving up a number of times without success. After a short stay in hospital, I got my head together and went to Quit4You. With a lot of help and good listening, I am now a quitter. I have been patch, mouth-strip and ‘E-lite’ free since April 2014. My message to everyone is don’t be afraid to ask for help and don’t leave it too late.”
Mary Hatcher, who won second prize, said: “Unfortunately like many teenage girls I started smoking to fit in and continued to smoke into my 20’s when I moved to the Isle of Man. The outdoor attractions of the Island started to draw me in, and in a bid to lose weight and change my lifestyle I started running and mountain biking. I was still smoking but I began to finally realise that my health was suffering – I was unable to breathe heavily and struggled during hard exercise. What would I rather do? I would rather be able to run and ride up hills so I decided to stop smoking.
“I made my choice and my goal was to be healthier, fitter and stronger. So I simply just stopped smoking. It was hard at times but I was determined and knew the benefits would far outweigh the struggle. My mum died when I was 32, just two months after I had stopped smoking – for many people this would be enough to start smoking again, for some a hard day at work is enough, but I had made my decision and was starting to feel better for having quit so I got through that period without cigarettes and with running. I have never looked back.
“Exercise, good health and how alive this made me feel was reason enough. I ended up running the fells, half marathons, a full marathon for my fortieth birthday and represented the Island in 2011 in Road Cycling at the Island Games when I was 42 – good achievements for an ex-smoker.”
